During the late 20th Century, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution had considerable repercussions in Biology, not only because of issues surrounding heredity but specifically because of the advance of biological research since the discovery of DNA, and more recently the genome project and research into genetically modified food. It is widely recognised that the earth sciences, the environment and biodiversity can no longer be studied without taking full account of the knowledge surrounding Darwin´s theory of natural selection and evolution.
On 27 September, 2004, in Manaus, Amazonas, a plaque in honour of the British naturalists Henry Walter Bates and Alfred Russel Wallace was inaugurated. They were the first to publicise Darwin´s theories of evolution in Brazil in 1855. The inauguration ceremony took place during the Third International Colloquium on the History of Darwinism in Europe and the Americas, and was presided over by the Secretary for Science and Technology of Amazonas, Marilene Correia, together with the Director of the National Institute for Amazonic Research, Ednaldo Nelson, and Professor Ricardo Ferreira (photo), who wrote the text on the plaque and spoke enthusiastically about Bates, Wallace and Darwin in the Amazon region. The plaque reads: "In this place, Barra do Rio Negro, the naturalists, Alfred Russel Wallace and Henry Walter Bates, met once again, and comparing their collections concluded that new species originate due to the continued divergency of the variations of the pre-existing species". The British Council´s Regional Manager in Recife, Roberta Kacowicz, expalined the BC's work in science, much of it focused on creating opportunity for debates such as these. The three-day colloquium brought together thirty specialists from around the world who debated such themes as 'Darwinism and War', 'Creationism and Darwinism', and 'Gender and Darwinism in Brazil'.
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