Theodosius Dobzhansky

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Grigorievich and the family name is Dobzhansky.
Theodosius Dobzhansky
ForMemRS
Dobzhansky in 1966
Born
Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky

(1900-01-25)January 25, 1900
Nemirov, Russian Empire
DiedDecember 18, 1975(1975-12-18) (aged 75)
Davis, California, US
Alma materUniversity of Kiev
Known forBateson–Dobzhansky–Muller model
Spouse
Natalia Sivertzeva
​
(m. 1924)​
ChildrenSophie Coe
Parents
  • Grigory Dobzhansky (father)
  • Sophia Voinarsky (mother)
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
University of Leningrad (1924–1927)[3]
Columbia University (1927–1928, 1940–1962)[3]
California Institute of Technology (1928–1940)[3]
Rockefeller University (1962–1970)[3]
University of California, Davis (1971–1975)[3]
Doctoral advisorYuri Filipchenko
Doctoral studentsBruce Wallace, Richard Lewontin

Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky (

evolutionary biologist. He was a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the modern synthesis[2][4] and also popular for his support and promotion of theistic evolution as a practicing Christian.[5] Born in the Russian Empire, Dobzhansky emigrated to the United States in 1927, aged 27.[6]

His 1937 work Genetics and the Origin of Species became a major influence on the modern synthesis. He was awarded the U.S. National Medal of Science in 1964[7] and the Franklin Medal in 1973.

Biography

Early life

Dobzhansky was born on January 25, 1900,[3] in Nemirov, Russian Empire (now Nemyriv, Ukraine), the only child of Grigory Dobzhansky, a mathematics teacher, and Sophia Voinarsky.[2]: 59  He was given an unusual name, Theodosius, because he was born after his middle-aged parents prayed for a child to St. Theodosius of Chernigov. In 1910 the family moved to Kiev.

At high school, Dobzhansky collected butterflies and decided to become a biologist.

St. Petersburg) to study under Yuri Filipchenko, where a Drosophila melanogaster
laboratory had been established.

On August 8, 1924, Dobzhansky married geneticist Natalia "Natasha" Sivertzeva, who was working with Ivan Schmalhausen in Kiev. The Dobzhanskys had one daughter, known under her married name as Sophie Coe, an anthropologist, food historian, and author, primarily known for her work on the history of chocolate.

Before emigrating to the United States, Dobzhansky published 35 scientific works on entomology and genetics.

America

Dobzhansky immigrated to the United States in 1927 on a work–study scholarship from the International Education Board of the Rockefeller Foundation. Upon arriving in New York City on December 27, he joined the Drosophila Group at Columbia University working alongside Thomas Hunt Morgan and Alfred Sturtevant. Their work provided crucial information on Drosophila cytogenetics.[9] Additionally, Dobzhansky and his team helped establish Drosophila pseudoobscura, within the genus Drosophila, as a favorable model organism in evolutionary-biological studies ever since they published their influential works.[10][11][12] Dobzhansky's original mindset (after studying alongside Yuri Filipchenko), was that there were serious doubts on using data obtained from phenomena happening in local populations (microevolution) and phenomena happening on a global scale (macroevolution).  Filipchenko also believed that there were only two types of inheritance: Mendelian inheritance of variation within species, and Non-Mendelian inheritance of variation in a macroevolutionary sense. Dobzhansky later stated that Filipchenko "bet on the wrong horse".[13]

He followed Morgan to the

naturalized citizen of the United States. During this time, he had a very public falling out with one of his Drosophila collaborators, Alfred Sturtevant
, based primarily in professional competition.

He returned to

behavior genetics
, and the founding of the society by the creation of the Dobzhansky Award (for a lifetime of outstanding scholarship in behavior genetics).

Dobzhansky's work in the field of evolutionary genetics, with the help of Sewall Wright, integrated standards of the theoretical, natural historical, and experimental work.[9]

Dobzhansky was elected a

Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1965.[2] In 1970, he published Genetics of the evolutionary process.[22]

Dobzhansky was renowned as the president of the

American Society of Zoologists in 1963, a member of the board of directors of the American Eugenics Society in 1964, and president of the American Teilhard de Chardin Association in 1969.[8][13]

Dobzhansky's research and studies allowed him to travel the world and receive honorary degrees in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Sweden.[23]

Genetics and the Origin of Species

Theodosius Dobzhansky published three editions of his book Genetics and the Origin of Species. Although the book was meant for people with a background in biology, it was easily understood.[24] In the fields of genetics and evolution, Dobzhansky's book is acknowledged as one of the most important books ever written. With each revision of Genetics and the Origin of Species, Dobzhansky added new material on crucial, up to date topics, and removed material he deemed to be no longer crucial. His book sparked trends in genetic research and theory.[25]

The first edition of Genetics and the Origin of Species (1937) highlighted the most recent discoveries in genetics and how they applied to the concept of evolution.[24] The book starts by addressing the problem of evolution and how modern discoveries in genetics could help find a solution. The book covers the chromosomal basis of Mendelian Inheritance, how the effects from changes in chromosomes greater than gene mutations are common and acceptable, and how mutations form racial and specific differences.[26] Dobzhansky explained how three levels could describe the processes of evolutionary population genetics: (1) the origin of raw materials by mutations of genes and chromosomes, (2) the changes in populations by changes in frequencies and combinations of mutations, (3) the fixation of changes by reproductive isolation.[25] To support his writing and research, the bibliography was twenty-eight pages long with around six hundred sources.[26]

In Dobzhansky's second edition of Genetics and the Origin of Species (1941), four years had gone by and he was able to add more research and advancements made in genetics. Around half of the new research he found was added to the last two chapters in his book: Patterns of Evolution, and Species as Natural Units. In the second to last chapter, Patterns of Evolution, Dobzhansky explained how on the path to a new adaptation, a method could be used to where a species could go through a less adaptive stage. The last chapter, Species as Natural Units, Dobzhansky explained some of the contributions made in genetics to what was called "the new systematics." Dobzhansky's second edition of the book also had twice as many sources in the bibliography than the first edition.[24]

In the third revision of Genetics and the Origin of Species (1951), Dobzhansky rewrote all ten chapters on: Isolating Mechanisms, Mutation in Populations, Organic Diversity, Heredity and Mutation, Race Formation, Selection, Adaptive Polymorphism, Hybrid Sterility, Species as Natural Units, and Patterns of Evolution. Dobzhansky decided to remove the chapter on Polyploidy in the third edition.[27] The new chapter on Adaptive Polymorphism highlighted Dobzhansky's research since the second edition. He included precise, quantitative evidence on effective natural selection in laboratory and free populations.[25]

Debate about race

Theodosius Dobzhansky and Ashley Montagu debated the use and validity of the term "race" over a period of many years without reaching an agreement. Montagu argued that "race" was so laden with toxic associations that it was a word best eliminated from science completely. Dobzhansky argued that science should not give in to the misuses to which it had been subjected, and that the concept of animal and plant races has been important in biology; the modern synthesis used the concept for describing the diverging biological populations differing in gene frequencies. This was done in hopes that its foundation in population genetics would undermine the deeply ingrained social prejudices associated with "race".[28]

His concern with the interface between humans and biology may have come from different factors. The main factor would be the race prejudice that contributed in Europe that triggered

WWII. His concern also dealt with religion in human life which he speaks about in his book The Biology of Ultimate Concern in 1967. "The pervasiveness of genetic variation provides the biological foundation of human individuality".[4] Dobzhansky talks about in great detail that "human nature has 2 dimensions: the biological, which mankind shares with the rest of life, and the cultural, which is exclusive to humans."[4] Both of these are believed to have come from "biological evolution and cultural evolution".[4]

Dobzhansky sought to put an end to the pseudoscience that purports genetic makeup to determine race, and thus rank in society. Harrison E. Salisbury wrote in a

New York Times review of Dobzhansky's book Heredity and the Future of Man that Dobzhansky could not, together with other scientists, agree upon what defines a race. Dobzhansky stated that a true bloodline for man could not be identified. He did not believe that a person's genetic makeup decided whether or not he would be a great man but rather that man "has the rare opportunity 'to direct his evolution'".[29]

Final illness and the "Light of Evolution"

Dobzhansky's wife Natasha died of

lymphocytic leukemia (a chronic form of leukemia), and had been given a few months to a few years to live. He retired in 1971, moving to the University of California, Davis where his student Francisco J. Ayala had been made assistant professor, and where he continued working as an emeritus professor. He published one of his most famous essays "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution" in 1973, influenced by the paleontologist and priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
.

By 1975, his leukemia had become more severe, and on November 11 he traveled to San Jacinto, California, for treatment and care. Working until his last day as a professor of genetics, Dobzhansky died (from heart failure) on December 18, 1975, in Davis, California.[9] He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in the Californian wilderness.[citation needed]

Evolution and God

Theodosius Dobzhansky believed that God and science can be reconciled through the idea that the Creator brought about his plan through the processes of evolution. He described his beliefs as "Evolution is God's, or Nature's, method of Creation."[31][32][5]

Publications

During his career, Dobzhansky published widely in books and

peer-reviewed scientific journals
:

Books

  • Sinnott, E.W., Dunn, L.C and Dobzhansky, Th. 1925. Principles of Genetics. McGraw-Hill. (5 editions: 1925, 1932, 1939, 1950, 1958; Dobzhansky co-editor only on 1950 & 1958 editions).
  • Dobzhansky, Th. 1937. Genetics and the Origin of Species. Columbia University Press, New York. (2nd ed., 1941; 3rd ed., 1951)
  • The Biological Basis of Human Freedom (1954).
  • Dunn, L. C., & Dobzhansky, Th. 1946. Heredity, Race, and Society. The New American Library of World Literature, Inc., New York.
  • Dobzhansky, Th. 1955. Evolution, Genetics, & Man. Wiley & Sons, New York.
  • Dobzhansky, Th. 1962. Mankind Evolving. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.
  • Dobzhansky, Th. 1966. Heredity and the Nature of Man. Harcourt, Brace & World Inc., New York, New York.
  • Dobzhansky, Th. 1967. The Biology of Ultimate Concern. New American Library, New York.
  • Dobzhansky, Th. 1970. Genetics of the Evolutionary Process. Columbia University Press, New York.
  • Dobzhansky, Th. 1973. Genetic Diversity and Human Equality. Basic Books, New York.
  • Dobzhansky, Th., F.J. Ayala, G.L. Stebbins & J.W. Valentine. 1977. Evolution. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco.
  • Dobzhansky, Th. 1981. Dobzhansky's Genetics of Natural Populations I-XLIII. R.C. Lewontin, J.A. Moore, W.B. Provine & B. Wallace, eds. Columbia University Press, New York. (reprints the 43 papers in this series, all but two of which were authored or co-authored by Dobzhansky)
  • Dobzhansky, Th., & Boesiger, E. 1983. Human Culture, A Moment in Evolution. Columbia University Press, New York.

Papers

  • Dobzhansky, Th. (1973). "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution" (PDF). The American Biology Teacher. 35 (3): 125–129.
    S2CID 207358177
    .
  • Dobzhansky, Th.; Pavlovsky, O. (1957). "An experimental study of interaction between genetic drift and natural selection". Evolution. 11 (3): 311–319.
    JSTOR 2405795
    .

Recensions

  • Dobzhansky, Th. Wrote a recension of "The origin of races" by the anthropologist Carleton S. Coon.[33] Dobzhansky rejected Coon's theory of independent origin of identical mutations, but he did agree that selection favored a sapiens-like genotype in all proto-human populations, and expressed the theory that all sapiens-alleles existed at a low frequency in all erectus-populations, and that the statistical composition of the gene pool shifted from erectus to sapiens in multiple populations independently.

References

  1. ^ "Theodosius Dobzhansky". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
  2. ^
    PMID 11615738
    .
  3. ^
    PMID 797305
    .
  4. ^ a b c d e Ayala, Francisco J. (1985). "Theodosius Dobzhansky" (PDF). Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences. 55: 163–213.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7432-8639-8
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-691-03479-9
    .
  7. ^ "The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details - NSF - National Science Foundation". Nsf.gov. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  8. ^
    S2CID 165064587
    .
  9. ^
    JSTOR 1297333
    .
  10. PMID 18652542
    . Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  11. ISBN 9781461571483
    .
  12. ISBN 978-0195076912
    .
  13. ^
    PMID 17841721
    .
  14. ISBN 0-465-04392-5
    .
  15. PMID 26086052
    .
  16. ^ "Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  17. ^ "Theodosius Dobzhansky". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  18. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  19. ^ "Honorary Doctorates between the decades of 1940s and 1950s from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil" (PDF).
  20. ^ "Theodosius Dobzhansky". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  21. ^ "Historical table of BGA Meetingsl". Bga.org. Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  22. ISBN 0-231-08306-8
    .
  23. S2CID 36378854
    .
  24. ^
    JSTOR 226232
    .
  25. ^
    JSTOR 2405629
    .
  26. ^
    JSTOR 225596
    .
  27. JSTOR 4438411
    .
  28. S2CID 27698937
    .
  29. ^ "Books of The Times; The Future of Man". The New York Times. 19 December 1964. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  30. ISBN 978-0-309-05877-3
    .
  31. S2CID 134799
    .
  32. Skeptic
    . 8 (1): 76–82.
  33. S2CID 86739986
    .

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Theodosius Dobzhansky.
Awards
Preceded by
George B. Kistiakowsky
 Recipient of the Elliott Cresson Medal
1973 		Succeeded by
Nikolai Nikolaevich Bogoliubov
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