THE POWER OF CELIBACY

11AM, RADIO 4 HHHH

Little geckos scuttle about on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Known as mourning geckos, these lizards reproduce without mating. Male Bernard Cribbins (10.45am, R4) mourning geckos are rare and typically sterile, but females, in the course of their five-year life span, can produce around 300 clones. The zoologist and author Lucy Cooke hears about virgin birth in geckos, and about a tiny, water-dwelling organism that gets over the disadvantages of cloning by stealing genes.