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Advisory
Board |
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In assembling
our advisory board, we have aimed to bring together
a group of scientists and scholars who are not only
well-versed in the population genetics and molecular
biology, but also share an appreciation for the intricacies
of the history and philosophy of science. The board's
primary function is to guide the staff as we formulate
the historical questions and topics that will serve
as the backbone of this website. Additionally, board
members will serve as liasons to the scientific communities
interested in the history of molecular evolution. Our
board members are: James Crow, John Gillespie, Richard
C. Lewontin, Tomoko Ohta, and William B. Provine. |
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James
Crow is Professor Emeritus of Genetics at University
of Wisconsin, where he has taught since 1948. During
his years at Wisconsin, Crow has served as chairman
of the Department of Medical Genetics and the Laboratory
of Genetics. He also served as Acting Dean of the UW
Medical School for 2 years. Additionally, he has been
President of the Genetics Society of America and the
American Society of Human Genetics. Crow received his
Ph.D. from University of Texas, Austin in 1941 and has
been studying the population genetics of Drosophila
and humans ever since. His research has ranged from
investigations of the genetics of DDT resistance to
the effects of small mutations on the overall fitness
of populations. Crow has made numerous contributions
to genetics, including: playing a significant role in
the development of the concept of genetic load; writing
the popular "Genetics Notes" guide for beginning genetics
students (which has gone through eight editions and
has been translated into several languages); and co-authoring
the classic population genetics textbook, An Introduction
to Population Genetics Theory (1970), with Motoo
Kimura.
Crow has also spent much of his career
tackling profoundly difficult issues at the intersection
of science and society. Indeed, from 1955-1983, he served
on various National Academy of Science committees that
focused on the biological effects of ionizing radiation.
Recently, he turned his attention to the development
of genetic identification technologies that are used
to determine paternity and convict criminals. From 1994-1996,
he chaired the NAS's Committee on DNA Technology in
Forensic Science; and from 1998-2000, he chaired the
Department of Justice's Working Group on the Future
of DNA Technology. A truly interdisciplinary scholar,
Crow has also made significant contributions to the
literature on history of genetics. Since 1987, Crow
has regularly contributed to, and served as co-editor
of, the "Perspectives: Anecdotal, Historical, and Critical
Commentaries on Genetics" section of Genetics (several
essays written for this column were recently collected
and published as an edited volume by University of Wisconsin
Press). In addition, he has also published several articles
in peer-reviewed historical journals. Crow is also an
accomplished musician, and performed with the Madison
Symphony Orchestra from 1949-1994. He served as President
of the MSO from 1984-1986. |
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John
Gillespie is Professor of
Evolution at University of California, Davis and Chairperson
of the Population Biology Graduate Group. He recieved
his Ph.D. in zoology in 1970 from the University of
Texas. Gillespie's research interests include the role
of natural selection in evolutionary processes taking
place in constantly changing environments, as well as
stochastic processes in molecular evolution. Gillespie
has published numerous articles on molecular evolution,
the molecular clock, and the neutral theory. He is also
the author of the well-known monograph, The Causes
of Molecular Evolution (1991).
[this biography will be updated shortly] |
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Richard
C. Lewontin is an evolutionary
geneticist, philosopher of science, and social critic.
He is best known among biologists for his role in the
development of molecular population genetics in the 1960s
and 1970s, especially the use of electrophoresis to study
the evolutionary implications of enzyme polymorphisms.
The two 1966 papers that he co-authored with J.L. Hubby
on this topic are considered to be classics in the field.
His 1972 article on "The Apportionment of Human Diversity,"
in which he argues that genetic variation is greater within
"races" than between them, is considered a landmark
paper in human genetics and is still frequently cited.
Further, his classic 1974 work, The Genetic Basis of
Evolutionary Change, is still required reading both
aspiring population geneticists and philosophers of evolutionary
biology. Lewontin received
his A.B. from Harvard College in 1951 and his Ph.D.
from Columbia University in 1954, where he was a student
of Theodosius Dobzhansky. After professorships at North
Carolina State University, University of Rochester and
University of Chicago (where he served as Chairman of
the Program in Evolutionary Biology from 1968-1973),
Lewontin moved to Harvard University in 1973, where
he has been ever since. He is currently Alexander Agassiz
Research Professor there.
Lewontin's reputation, however, is
not based simply on his many scientific and academic
accomplishments. Over the past 30 years, he has turned
his critical gaze toward the ways that biology is done
and the place of science in society. In numerous books
and articles, including Biology as Ideology,
Not in Our Genes, and The Triple Helix: Gene,
Organism, and Environment, he has challenged molecular
biologists and geneticists to think about the living
world more holistically than is currently fashionable.
Lewontin is well-known for his scathing critiques of
the rhetoric used by scientists to gain public support
and funding for the Human Genome Project. Additionally,
he has been concerned for many years with questions
about the genetic and non-genetic variables that influence
behavioral traits like intelligence and temperament.
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After receiving
her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in 1967,
Tomoko Ohta returned to Japan to begin a fellowship
at to the National Institute of Genetics in Mishima,
under the direction of Motoo Kimura. Fortuitously, Ohta
arrived at the Institute just as Kimura was beginning
to formulate his theory of neutral evolution. In addition
to collaborating with him on several important studies
that provided evidence for the neutral theory, she went
on to play a crucial role in the history of molecular
genetics in her own right. Ohta is best-known for her
nearly-neutral mutation hypothesis, which emphasizes
the importance of the interaction of genetic drift and
selection. She has also extensively studied the evolution
of multigene families, focusing on the mechanisms of
interaction between duplicated gene sequences.
Ohta has spent her entire career at
the National Institute of Genetics, serving first as
a research member from 1967-1984, then as a Professor
in the Laboratory of Population Genetics from 1984 until
her retirement in 1997. She is still active in molecular
population genetics research is currently Professor
Emeritas at the Institute. Ohta has also undertaken
many administrative roles at the Institute, including
a term as its Vice Director from 1990-1991. She is the
author of nearly 150 articles, and co-author, with Kimura,
of Theoretical Aspects of Population Genetics
(1971).
In addition to earning numerous awards
and honors for her contributions to the understanding
of molecular evolution--including the Japan Academy
Prize (1985) and the Weldon Memorial Prize (Oxford University,
1986)--Ohta has also be recognized for her role as a
pioneering woman in science. She was awarded the Saruhashi
Prize from the Society for the Bright Future of Women
Scientists in 1981, as well as the Avon Special Prize
for Women in 1986. |
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Historian of
biology William B. Provine spent much of his childhood
observing and collecting the plants, animals, and insects
that surrounded his family's farm in Brentwood, Tennessee.
He entered the University of Chicago in 1958, at the age
of 16, and received his B.S. in Mathematics in 1962. During
his two year tenure as a middle school teacher in Illinois,
Provine came to believe that science could only be taught
from a historical perspective. It was this realization
that persuaded him to return to the University of Chicago
in 1964 to pursue graduate study in History of Science.
In the process of searching
for a dissertation topic, Provine took courses in evolution
and genetics from Lynn Throckmonkton, Bill Baker, and
Dick Lewontin. Not only did these courses instill in
Provine a lifelong passion for the intricacies of evolutionary
biology, they also caused him to give up his long-held
belief in the kind of purposive design in nature expounded
by thinkers like Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Provine
eventually decided to write his thesis on the origins
of population genetics (at the suggestion of Lewontin)
and received his Ph.D. in History of Science from Chicago
in 1970. Shortly before completing his doctoral work,
he earned a tenure-track professorship at Cornell University,
where he has been ever since. Provine is currently Charles
A. Alexander Professor of Biological Sciences and Professor
of History of Biology, and teaches courses both on evolution
and the history of evolutionary biology.
Provine is the author of numerous influential
books and articles. His thesis, The Origins of Theoretical
Population Genetics, was quickly published by University
of Chicago Press in 1971 (2nd ed., 2001). Provine is
perhaps best known for his biographical work, Sewall
Wright and Evolutionary Biology (1986), as well
as the volume he co-edited with Ernst Mayr, entitled
The Evolutionary Synthesis: Perspectives on the Unification
of Biology (1980, 2nd ed. 1988). Both are considered
starting points for any scholar who wishes to explore
the history of twentieth century evolutionary biology.
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This page was written by Jay
Aronson on August 15, 2001. |
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