American Geneticists Research Articles

From Radiation Effects to Consanguineous Marriages: American Geneticists and Colonial Science in the Atomic Age

In 1947, the US National Academy of Sciences established the Atomic Bomb Casualty Com­mission (ABCC) and sent American scientists to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to investigate the delayed effects of the atomic bombs among survivors. James Neel, medical professor at the University of Michigan, headed the genetics team of ABCC whose mission was to measure the possible genetic mutations caused by radiation. After the conclusion of the ABCC studies, Neel and his scientific team continued to use the resources and subjects in southern Japan to conduct research on the genetics of consanguineous marriages in Japan. This article explores how both the ABCC genetic studies and consanguinity studies reflected American fears about rising mutations in an apocalyptic atomic age. Studies on inbreeding illuminated the nature and extent of mutations in a “pure” genetic population. Furthermore, the Japanese data were used for genetic counseling back in America, helping to address the American public’s concern about increasing interracial marriages between whites and Asians. Despite the attempts of Neel and other American geneticists to disassociate their work from previous, racist, eugenics studies, postwar genetic studies took on the same practices, institutions, and goals as their predecessors—to ensure the wellbeing of the white race. Neel’s ABCC and subsequent studies, all bankrolled by the US Atomic Energy Commission, exploited American military and financial power to take advantage of the “intimate” relationships with nonwhite, “deviant” subjects.

Clinical trials for genetic diseases in Latin America.

Latin American geneticists have been contributing to the scientific development of Human and Medical Genetics fields since the early 1950s. In the last decades, as Medical Genetics is moving toward a new era of innovative therapies for previously untreatable conditions, the participation of Latin America in clinical trials is also increasing. This review discusses the particularities regarding funding, regulatory, and ethical aspects of conducting clinical trials for genetic diseases in Latin America, with an especial focus on Brazil, the largest country with the highest number of studies. Although there are still several barriers to overcome, the recent development of orphan drug legislation and policies for rare diseases in many Latin American countries indicates a growing opportunity for the participation of the region in international efforts for the development of new therapies for genetic diseases.

“Essential Collaborators”: Locating Middle Eastern Geneticists in the Global Scientific Infrastructure, 1950s–1970s

AbstractIn the aftermath of World War II, a new international infrastructure based on United Nations agencies took charge of coordinating global biomedical research. Through this infrastructure, European and American geneticists hoped to collect and test blood samples from human populations across the world to understand processes of human heredity and evolution and trace the historical migrations of different groups. They relied heavily on local scientific workers to help them identify and access populations of interest, although they did not always acknowledge the critical role non-Western collaborators played in their studies. Using scientific publications, personal correspondence, and oral histories, I investigate the collaborative relationships between Western scientists, their counterparts in the Middle East, and the human subjects of genetic research. I comparatively examine the experiences of Israeli and Iranian scientists and physicians engaged in genetic anthropology and medical genetics between the mid-1950s and the late 1970s, noting how they both applied nationalist historical narratives to their genetic data and struggled to establish the value of their local knowledge and scientific labor. I argue that the Israeli and Iranian experience of transnational scientific collaboration is representative of how Western scientists relegated their collaborators from “developing” regions to a subordinate positionality as collection agents or native informants. Meanwhile, within their own countries, the elite professional identity of Israeli and Iranian scientists granted them the authority to manipulate their research subjects, who often belonged to marginalized minority communities, and to interpret their biology and history within contexts of Jewish and Persian nationalism.

A controversial idea as a cultural resource: The Lysenko controversy and discussions of genetics as a ‘democratic’ science in postwar Japan

The Japanese discussion of the theory of Soviet agronomist Trofim D. Lysenko began in the postwar years under the American occupation. Leftists introduced Lysenko's theory immediately after the war as part of a postwar scientists' movement. Unlike many American geneticists, who sharply criticized the theory, Japanese geneticists initially participated in the discussion in an even-handed way; their scientific interests in the roles of cytoplasm and the environment in heredity shaped their initial sympathetic reaction. As the Cold War divide deepened, however, Japanese scientists began expressing sharp anti-Lysenko criticisms that resembled the American criticisms. Interestingly, throughout the period, Japanese geneticists' overall aim in the discussion remained largely unchanged: to effectively reconstruct their discipline and maintain its proper image and authority. However, the shift in their reaction occurred due to an evolving sociopolitical context, especially the shift in the meaning of 'democratic' science from a science that employed democratic processes to a science of a liberal-democratic state. Regarding Lysenko's idea as a cultural resource could help to explain how and why it was treated differently in different places, and why a controversy emerged in certain contexts but not in others.

И.Н.ГОЛУБОВСКАЯ –СОЗДАТЕЛЬ УНИКАЛЬНОЙ КОЛЛЕКЦИИ МУТАЦИЙ ГЕНОВ МЕЙОЗА У КУКУРУЗЫ И ТАЛАНТЛИВЫЙ ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬ ПРОБЛЕМЫ ГЕНЕТИКИ МЕЙОЗА

Over 40 years, Inna Nikitichna Golubovskaya studied the fundamental problem of genetic control of meiosis, using meiosis in Zea mays as the model. She discovered more than half of 50 genes and gene alleles controlling meiosis in maize anthers and ovules, and studied even more of them. Having started with her researches at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk) in 1972, she moved in 1986 to the N. I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (Leningrad/St. Petersburg) to become the leader of a research group. In 1993, she started to collaborate with the Department of Biology, University of North Dakota (USA). There she worked during the field seasons until 1998. In 1999, Dr. Golubovskaya was invited to work with the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, California State University at Berkeley. She developed and maintained a seed collection of genetic maize lines bearing mutations of meiotic genes, and in 2012 brought it to the Vavilov Institute. She was actively involved in cloning and studying major genes regulating meiosis in maize at the molecular level, and their expression in meiotic process. I. N. Golubovskaya’s contribution to the studies on maize genetics and genetic control of meiosis was expressly extolled by American geneticists.

The emergence of human population genetics and narratives about the formation of the Brazilian nation (1950–1960)

This paper discusses the emergence of human population genetics in Brazil in the decades following World War II, and pays particular attention to narratives about the formation of the Brazilian nation. We analyze the institutionalization of this branch of genetics in the 1950s and 1960s, and look at research on the characteristics of the population of Brazil, which made use of new explanatory models of evolutionary dynamics. These developments were greatly influenced by the activities of the Rockefeller Foundation and by the presence of North American geneticists in Brazil, especially Theodosius Dobzhansky. One of the main points of this paper is to show that explanations of Brazilian human genetic diversity constructed in the mid-twentieth century closely followed interpretations that had been produced since the end of the nineteenth century, in which notions of ‘racial mixing’ played a central role. Even as population genetics was conditioned by nationalist concerns that had long marked Brazilian history, we argue that its emergence and institutionalization was closely associated with global, post-World War II socio-political contexts, especially with regards to modernization projects and growing scientific internationalization.

Defending Scientific Freedom and Democracy: The Genetics Society of America’s Response to Lysenko

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the leaders of the Genetics Society of America (GSA) struggled to find an appropriate group response to Trofim Lysenko's scientific claims and the Soviet treatment of geneticists. Although some of the leaders of the GSA favored a swift, critical response, procedural and ideological obstacles prevented them from following this path. Concerned about establishing scientific orthodoxy on one hand and politicizing the content of their science on the other, these American geneticists drew on democratic language and concepts as they engaged in this political issue. The relatively weak statements that did emerge from the GSA attracted little attention in the scientific or popular press. The intensely politicized atmosphere of American science complicated the GSA's task, as domestic concerns about protecting democracy were beginning to constrain academic freedom. In the context of American Cold War culture, Lysenko became just one example of the dangers the Cold War world presented to scientific freedom.

The Cold War Context of the Golden Jubilee, Or, Why We Think of Mendel as the Father of Genetics

In September 1950, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) dedicated its annual meeting to a "Golden Jubilee of Genetics" that celebrated the 50th anniversary of the rediscovery of Mendel's work. This program, originally intended as a small ceremony attached to the coattails of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) meeting, turned into a publicity juggernaut that generated coverage on Mendel and the accomplishments of Western genetics in countless newspapers and radio broadcasts. The Golden Jubilee merits historical attention as both an intriguing instance of scientific commemoration and as an early example of Cold War political theatre. Instead of condemning either Lysenko or Soviet genetics, the Golden Jubilee would celebrate Mendel - and, not coincidentally, the practical achievements in plant and animal breeding his work had made possible. The American geneticists' focus on the achievements of Western genetics as both practical and theoretical, international, and, above all, non-ideological and non-controversial, was fully intended to demonstrate the success of the Western model of science to both the American public and scientists abroad at a key transition point in the Cold War. An implicit part of this article's argument, therefore, is the pervasive impact of the Cold War in unanticipated corners of postwar scientific culture.

Paul A Lombardo: A Century of Eugenics in America. From the Indiana Experiment to the Human Genome Era

The year 2007 saw the centenary of America’s, and the world’s, first compulsory sterilisation law, enacted in Indiana and followed later by similar laws in over 30 other American states. A symposium was held to mark the anniversary, together with a public meeting and other events, and this book contains a number of the principal contributions. The book’s title is actually somewhat misleading; the emphasis is almost entirely on the topic of compulsory sterilisation in America, with eugenics itself featuring very little except as a background. The issues discussed revolve mainly around how American society and the establishment treated, and mistreated, its poor, its socially inadequate and its racial minorities. The book’s contributors come almost entirely from a social science and law background, with a single final chapter involving a medical geneticist. So, does it contain anything which the human geneticist, whether scientist or clinician, can learn from? While initially sceptical, my final conclusion is yes, though the parts of value are somewhat scattered among other chapters mainly of interest to historians and social scientists. The editor, Paul Lombardo, has contributed both a thoughtful introduction and a specific chapter. He highlights the shifting meanings of the term ‘Eugenics’, rightly noting that it has changed from being one that a century ago was uncritically regarded as good, whereas today it has, equally uncritically, become a term of abuse; neither situation is helpful to any objective analysis. Lombardo also notes the shifting nature of the ‘problems’ that eugenicists and others claimed to have identified, leading to political pressure to enact laws permitting and promoting compulsory sterilisation, the main hallmark of the American eugenics movement. As Lombardo emphasises here, and as others have before, this produced ‘strange bedfellows’ promoting eugenics, with some supporters being radical and progressive (in the European sense of these terms!) in other areas of policy, co-existing somewhat uneasily with the majority whose views were based largely on bigotry and racism. For many, eugenics seems to have provided a ‘secular religion’. Of the series of individual chapters, only that of Elof Carlson relates the topic of compulsory sterilisation to the wider history of American eugenics, and the role of those scientists involved in this, such as Davenport, East, Loughlin and Popenoe, receives virtually no mention. Yet it was the support and involvement of respected and established American geneticists that was crucial in persuading the various American states to pass the laws, just as their counterparts and contemporaries underpinned eugenics in Nazi Germany. A series of chapters traces the development of compulsory sterilisation laws in a range of American States, notably Indiana (the first) and California (the state that actually performed most). A major factor was the introduction of vasectomy by Indiana surgeon Harry Clay Sharp. Although somewhat repetitive and at times parochial (Europe receives barely a mention despite the close interactions of American and European eugenicists and the strongly international nature of the eugenics movement), some interesting facts emerge from these chapters. Particularly significant perhaps is that most compulsory sterilisations were performed primarily for social reasons, not on eugenic grounds; the reasons were principally poverty and social deprivation, as well as perceived ‘feeble P. S. Harper (&) Institute of Medical Genetics, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK e-mail: HarperPS@Cardiff.ac.uk

The genetic structure of Balkan populations of Drosophila subobscura

Although Drosophila subobscura has been a model organism for European and American population geneticists, little information is available on the genetic structure of its natural populations. In this paper we report the estimates of some population parameters. We have used data from lethal allelism tests in four Balkan populations (Kamariste, Djerdap and Petnica in Serbia and Zanjic in Montenegro). In all populations, lethal genes were found to have a deleterious effect on heterozygotes. The N(e) values varied greatly from 370 (Petnica) to 19413 (Kamariste), depending on the habitat conditions and some environmental factors. Finally, gene flow between the Balkan populations was detected by the estimates of N(m) (from 4.68 in Petnica to 106.2 in Kamariste) and m (from 0.0041 in Djerdap to 0.0126 in Petnica). These results agree with those obtained in a previous study where the frequencies of allelism between populations were greater than predicted by independently arising lethal genes.

A brand-new bird: how two amateur scientists created the first genetically engineered animal

A brand-new bird: how two amateur scientists created the first genetically engineered animal

Tobacco mosaic virus RNA as genetic determinant: genesis of a discovery.

It is generally held that the American geneticists Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase were the first to elucidate, in 1952, the genetic functions of phage DNA. The discovery of the genetic functions of RNA in a plant virus (Tobacco mosaic virus, TMV) is commonly attributed to the American plant virologist Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat, and to the Germans Alfred Gierer and Gerhard Schramm, who came to the same conclusion independently in 1956. In reality, the first understandings dated back to about 1940, when several scientists discovered that TMV infectivity was closely related to the presence of undamaged RNA in the virus particles. A very important but underestimated contribution came from the English group of Roy Markham, Kenneth Smith and Richard Matthews in 1948. This group purified and characterized an isometric plant virus, Turnip yellow mosaic virus, and first showed that virus infectivity depended on the presence of the RNA, concluding that nucleic acid was essential for virus multiplication. This finding was confirmed by the same group one year later but it laid neglected. After a five year period, in which several groups attempted to solve the question of the function of TMV RNA, the American electron microscopist Roger Hart offered, in 1955, further direct evidence which correlated RNA to TMV infectivity. One year later, three research groups (Fraenkel-Conrat; Gierer and Schramm; Max Lauffer, David Trkule and Anne Buzzell) obtained evidence that put an end to the question, which was (and is) fundamental to molecular Genetics because it demonstrated that RNA can function independently of DNA.

Historia de la genética latinoamericana en el siglo XX

The aim of this historical review is to evaluate the evolution of genetics in the context of Latin American scientific culture, to value foreign influences and to highlight the discoveries and contributions of Latin American geneticists. During the first third of the twentieth century, local naturalists, botanists and physicians understood the chromosomal theory of heredity and Mendelian theory of evolution and begun research and teaching on these new theories and technologies. During the thirties and forties, North American geneticists visited South America and formed development poles on cytogenetics and population genetics in Brazil and Argentina. During the fifties and sixties, human genetics was formally established in Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Genetics teaching became generalized in universities and national Genetics Societies were formed. In 1969, the Latin American Genetics Society was created, unifying the efforts of zoologists, botanists, physicians and anthropologists in an unique Latin American cultural space, organizing 11 meetings between 1972 and 1994. Latin Americans have made a great contribution in genome discovery of animal, vegetable and human species in their territory. They explored the great genetic diversity of the continent, discovering new genes and diseases. The biomedical area had the greatest development. In 1997, there were 130 medical genetics centers, 120 hospitals specialized in congenital malformations, 56 molecular biology centers and 26 molecular genetics centers. At the end of the twentieth century, human genetics is completely integrated to medical sciences in Latin America.

GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF DUAL PURPOSE CATTLE IN LATIN AMERICA

SUMMARYIn June 1994 a group of Latin American geneticists met in Venezuela to discuss the current state of knowledge and priorities for research in the genetic improvement of dual purpose populations. The group also included specialists in the fields of economics, extensionand production systems, so that the views of the geneticists were constantly confronted with the practical realities of the field. This paper summarizes the conclusions and recommendations of the group. The bibliography provides a list of key references which cover the majority of the scientific evidence upon which the conclusions are based. The two mainconclusions arrived at concerned education and information dissemination: i) an unacceptably wide gap exists between current knowledge on genetic (as well as other) aspects of dual purpose cattle and the teaching curricula of most institutions of higher education in the region. There is an urgent need to introduce up-to-date information on this topic into the education system at all levels. ü) A serious effort should be made regionally to increase the number and quality of scientific and extension publications in this area, and to encourage the exchange of information between research workers.

L'éthique du généticien. Les débuts de l'American Society of Human Genetics

OWEN TERRENOIRE The relationship between the elaboration of a professionnel ethic and the birth of a professional association is studied through the presentation of the creation of the first association of American geneticists. By proclaiming their opposition to the pro- eugenic tendency of earlier research, these scientists were led to elaborate a new ethic and organize their association. The key notion in this ethic was that of responsibility. However, the texts studied reveal how ambiguous this notion was.

Geneticists and the evolutionary synthesis in interwar Germany.

Summary According to Ernst Mayr, most geneticists were not particularly interested in or well informed about macro-evolutionary processes and thus did not make major contributions to the evolutionary synthesis of the 1930s and 1940s. Although this characterization applies to many American geneticists of the period, it does not fit their German counterparts. German geneticists' active interest in evolutionary mechanisms can be clearly seen in the German debates of the 1920s and 1930s over the significance of cytoplasmic inheritance. While morphologists celebrated the evidence for cytoplasmic heredity as a basis for neo-Lamarckian mechanisms, those geneticists who actually studied cytoplasmic inheritance regarded it as a way of strengthening the case for natural selection. This German-American contrast suggests that our understanding of the evolutionary synthesis would benefit from an analysis of the institutional circumstances of the various contributing disciplines.

American geneticists and the eugenics movement: 1905?1935

I have attempted to show that between 1905 and 1935, both internal and external factors were important in producing and influencing geneticists' attitudes toward the eugenics movement. Internal factors operated in several ways during this period. In the first decade of the century, discoveries within genetics supplied geneticists a mode of expression to evoke their already existing social concern by providing a new vocabulary with which to present eugenic proposals. In addition, because these findings were relatively easy to explain to the layman, it became an easy matter for geneticists to popularize eugenics. After 1915, by suggesting the complexity of inheritance, other developments within genetics helped dim their initial enthusiasm for the movement. During this period, factors external to the science of genetics also were important. By producing a general interest in social affairs among many geneticists, the intellectual and social milieu of the late 1800's lay the foundations for their early participation in the eugenics movement. In the 1920's and 1930's the subjection of genetic theory to support preconceived social and political doctrines prompted them to renounce the movement publicly.

The Role of Heterosis in Crop Breeding with Special Reference to Hybrid Cottons

The manifestations of increased size, vigour of development, productivity and similar beneficial effects have long been recognised in many first generation hybrids of plants and animals. This increase in size and vigour resulting from hybridisation has been designated variously as the "stimulating effects of hybridity", "hetero- zygosis" or "hybrid vigour" and Shuli (1914) first proposed the use of the term "heterosis" to denote such a phenomenon. "Heterosis" attracted the early attention of the plant breeders through its conspicuous effects on several economic characters of the crop plants studied, notably that of grain yields in maize (Zea Mays. L) a crop taken up for pioneer investigations by the American geneticists. With the advent of Mendelism after 1900, the subject of heterosis evoked considerable academic interest and the advancement of genetical knowledge provided practical applications The years that followed witnessed remarkable progress in the study of quantitative inheritance and applied genetics. In maize breeding in the United States of America, harnessing of heterosis became the main consideration and the achievements gradually revolutionised corn production and made economic history.

Commentary by American Geneticists

The controversy over genetics in Russia has produced many repercussions among scientists outside the Soviet Union. Two prominent foreign members of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the British physiologist, Sir Henry Dale, and the American geneticist, H. J. Muller, have resigned from the Academy in protest against the decree of August 26. Here we present several commentaries by prominent geneticists.