Paul M. Bingham

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Paul Montgomery Bingham (born February 25, 1951) is an American

evolutionary biologist, Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University[1] and Vice President for Research at Rafael Pharmaceuticals.[2] He is known for his work in molecular biology, and has also published recent articles and a book on human evolution.[3]

Biography

Bingham received his undergraduate degree at

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) before joining the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and the School of Medicine at Stony Brook University in 1982.[1]

Molecular biology

He was part of a collaborative team that discovered the

parasitic DNA sequence element, the P element transposon.[5] This enabled a widely used strategy still used today for retrieving genes from animals. It also shed fundamental new light on how evolution shapes the (self-interested) individual genes that collaborate to build organisms
.

With his wife (Zuzana Zachar), he demonstrated that

metazoan molecular and developmental genetics.[9] He and his collaborators were the first to propose the use of P element transposon tagging to clone the first metazoan RNA polymerase subunit.[10] This work demonstrated that the P element is a recently invading parasite of the Drosophila genome and gene pool. Thus, P became the first clearly defined metazoan example of this long-suspected phenomenon.[9]

His research group also worked on the nature of metazoan gene regulation

pre-mRNA splicing[12][13][14][15] and of critical features of the nuclear organization of pre-mRNA processing and transport[16][17] This latter work first clearly established the now-widely accepted model of channeled diffusion for the movement of most pre-mRNAs through the nuclear compartment.[4][18]

Bingham and Zachar discovered the first-in-class anti-cancer mitochondrial metabolism drug (CPI-613; devimistat),[19] currently in Phase III registrational clinical trials in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and acute myeloid leukemia.[20] This work is now being done in collaboration with Rafael Pharmaceuticals.[19]

Human evolutionary biology

In the mid-1990s, he developed a theory of human uniqueness that proposes a novel explanation of why humans have evolved to be ecologically dominant. The theory has been published in three peer-reviewed journals:

Evolutionary Anthropology and the Journal of Theoretical Biology.[21][22]

He and co-author Joanne Souza have developed the theory further in a self-published book,

W.D. Hamilton’s theory of kin selection (Benefit x Relatedness > Cost) and posits that the genus Homo evolved when an ancestral organism developed the ability to effectively manage non-kin conflicts of interests by lowering the cost of coercion between non-kin individuals (Benefit > Cost of Coercion + Cost of Cooperation).[24]

The theory, using precedents established in biological theory, proposes to explain many aspects of human social and sexual behavior. It proposed to account for the evolution of the human species from the advent of its phylogenetic branching from other hominins through physiological and behavioral adaptations until our current civilization.[25] This theory of human uniqueness claims to answer the fundamental scientific challenge posed by Charles Darwin, to explain the descent of man: how did the 'incremental' process of evolution by natural selection suddenly produce an utterly unprecedented kind of animal, humans? It suggests an explanation of human origins, and also of human properties (from speech to political/economic/religious behavior).[26]

According to his theory, the cost to an enforcer of coercing a cheating individual into a cooperative effort, known as the

Lanchester's Square Law
, when they gang up on a cheater. [28] The theory proposes that this elite throwing ability initially allowed bands of proto-humans improved capacity to repel predators and scavenge their kills in the African savanna. It was later adapted as threat projection towards free-riding conspecifics (cheaters) in non-kin
cooperative
groups that made the cooperation evolutionarily stable against cheaters who, without coercion by this threat, would otherwise flourish and displace co-operators.[29]

The theory further generalizes to a theory of history,

nation-state.[31][25][32]

Academic work

In collaboration with Joanne Souza, he has developed a course [1] on the logic and implications of this new theory [2].

Bingham has served as the Faculty Director of the Freshmen College of Human Development at Stony Brook [3].

Bingham also serves on the management team of Rafael Pharmaceuticals, a firm developing cancer therapies, as Vice President of Research. He and his collaborator, Prof. Zuzana Zachar, recently received the Maffetone Research Prize from the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund for their cancer work.[1][19]

Publications

Social coercion theory

Cancer research

References

  1. ^ a b c "Biochemistry faculty profile". SUNY Stonybrook. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Paul Bingham, Ph.D.Vice President of Research". Rafael Pharmaceuticals. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Paul Bingham". World Science Festival. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  4. ^ a b "Paul Bingham | SUNY: Stony Brook University - Academia.edu". sbsuny.academia.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  5. ^ "2012-13 ALLELE Series". ALLELE Seminar Series. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  6. S2CID 25146339
    .
  7. S2CID 10025372
    .
  8. S2CID 18723067
    .
  9. ^
    PMID 2542025
    .
  10. S2CID 1985358
    .
  11. PMID 2544017
    .
  12. PMID 2832151
    .
  13. PMID 3443103
    .
  14. PMID 2853467
    .
  15. PMID 7971282
    .
  16. S2CID 20307555
    .
  17. PMID 8491768
    .
  18. PMID 14731863
    .
  19. ^ a b c "Executive Management Team". Rafael Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  20. ^ "Rafael cornerstone starts phase III pancreatic trial; CPI-613 in AML study, too". www.bioworld.com. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  21. PMID 18462758
    .
  22. S2CID 59499229
    .
  23. ISBN 978-1-4392-5412-7
    .
  24. ^
    S2CID 26024208
    .
  25. ^
    ISSN 0033-5770
    .
  26. ISBN 978-0-262-52666-1
    .
  27. S2CID 1567228
    .
  28. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.11.001
    .
  29. ^ niallmck1 (24 January 2021). "Self-Interested or Super-Cooperators? Human Nature from an Evolutionary Perspective". The Weekend University. Retrieved 2021-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. S2CID 25793489
    .
  31. ^ Poe M, Bingham P, Souza J (2010-04-30). "P. Bingham and J. Souza, "Death From a Distance and the Birth of a Humane Universe"". New Books Network. Archived from the original on November 28, 2011.
  32. doi:10.1002/1520-6505(2000)9:6<248::AID-EVAN1003>3.0.CO;2-X
    .

External links
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