Index

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Académic des Sciences 57, 64–5, 180

acorn worm 13, 92, 94

amino acids 151–2, 153, 157, 159

aphid 39–40, 212

Aristotle 21–3, 25–6, 44–5, 106, 227, 228, 233, 237

arthropods 97, 182

Avery, Oswald 134–5, 136

Awgulewitsch, Alexander 179

Bacon, Francis xiii, 99–100, 172, 185

bacteriocytes 212, 213

bacteriophage lambda (virus) 147, 166–9

Baer, Karl Ernst von 36, 47, 73, 120

Bateson, William 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 172, 186, 234, 235

Darwin, reconciliation with 236, 237; Darwinism, opposes 102, 103, 227, 229, 236; death 126; emphasises importance of the monstrous 100–1, 177, 194; experiments 104–6, 107, 110, 111; genetic variation, attempts to solve origin of xii-xiii, 89–90, 96–107, 110–13; genetics, coins term 113; homeosis, advances 175; Mendelism, adopts 112; meristic variation, work on 96–8, 191; vertebrates, work on 91–2, 94–5 see also Materials for the study of Variation

Beadle, George W. 160, 169

Beagle 17, 57, 69, 70–1, 72, 74–5, 81, 106, 107

Berrill, N. J. 93

bestiary xiii, 98–100

Bible, The 31, 73, 74, 250

Boerhaave, Hermann 38

Bois-Regard, Nicolas Andry de 35, 36

Bonnet, Charles 38–42, 43, 46, 48, 170

Boveri, Theodor 123–4

Boyle, Robert 29

Bragg, Lawrence 136, 137, 168

Bragg, William 136, 137, 168

bread mould 160, 169, 171

Bridges, Calvin B. 127

Brooks, William Keith 94, 114

Brünn Society for the Study of Natural Science 107, 111

Buchnem (bacteria) 212–13

Buffon, George-Louis Leclerc Comte de 85, 86, 113, 124, 125, 126, 143, 144–5

butterfly 106

California Institute of Technology (Caltech) 127, 176

Cambridge University 69, 91, 137, 138, 143

cell theory:

birth of 44–7; division of cell 46–7; ingredients of cell 46; mitochondria, origin of 214–16; multicellular organisms, birth of 217–19; nucleus, origin and elaboration of 213–14, 215; origin of cell 46–7, 214; preformation, effect upon 47; protoplasm 46; recombination 121–7; sperm or ova cell division 121; term ‘cell’ coined 45; unicellular states 44–5

Charles I, King 24

Charles X, King 57

chromosomes:

alleles 122, 152, 176; behaviour 120–30; birth 121; chiasmata 121, 122, 123; identifying the substance of 131–52; linkage groups 117–19, 125, 126; meiosis 121–7; numbers in different species 120–1; recombination 121–7

‘chromosomes in heredity, The’ (Sutton) 124

Cleopatra 22

cloning 247, 249

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 116

College of Physicians 24

Columbia University 113, 115, 127, 137

Fly Room 115–16, 176

Considérations sur les corps organises (Bonnet) 40, 48

cosmetic surgery 245

Crick, Francis xi, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 144, 145–6, 148, 150, 155, 161

Cromwell, Oliver 24

crustaceans, evolution of 182–3

Cuvier, Georges 57–65, 68, 73, 80, 98, 180

Dalton, John 43

Darwin, Charles 91, 93, 106, 107, 124, 127, 143, 228

anecdotal style 102; Bateson challenges 94, 98, 100–1, 103, 175; Bateson, reconciliation with 236–7; Beagle voyage 69–72, 75; death 111; effect of theories on modern biology xiii-xiv ; effect of theories on science of the day 87–8, 94, 98, 100–1; gemmules, venture into 86–7, 113; Goethe, relationship to 57; inheritors 102, 114; life 65, 67–9; natural selection, elegance of 82–3; natural selection, influences of others upon idea of 61, 73, 74, 76, 77–9, 227; natural selection, publication of first paper 75–83; nature-philosophy, reaction to 227, 233–4; pangenesis, theory of 86–7; political and religious views 72–3, 77–9; popularity wanes 115; theory of evolution, missing ingredients of 145–6; variation, accepts as the engine of change 17, 78–80; variation, links transmutation and evolution to 73, 74, 79, 80, 195; variation, natural selection fails to explain origin of 83–4, 89–90, 104; ‘warm little pond’ 208; see also On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

Darwin, Elizabeth Anne 77

Darwin, Erasmus 68

De la generation des vers dans le corps de I’homme (‘An Account of the Breeding of Worms in Human Bodies’) (Bois-Regard) 35

De la recherché de la vérité (On the Search for Truth) (Malebranche) 30, 31

De Vries, Hugo 111–12, 113, 116, 123–4, 143, 144

Descartes, Réné 30

disease and disorders, genetic:

albinism 159; alkaptonuria 156–9; cystic fibrosis 153; dormant 166–7; Duchenne muscular dystrophy 153; medical response to 153, 156–9, 166–8, 243–5; phenylketonuria 156–9; skin cancer 167–8

Dissertatio epistolica de formatione pulli in ovo (‘The Formation of the Chicken in the Egg’) (Malpighi) 29, 30

DNA 217, 233, 237

Alu 202–3, 205; deoxyribose phosphate 138–9; enzymes and 157; four base construction 133–4, 138–40; generational transfer of 142–3; Hoxgene 174, 179, 181; identified as genetic material 134–8; ingredients of 133; junk 201–6, 210, 220–1, 246; LINEs 201–5; mutation 143–5; nucleotides 141; operator 163–4, 167, 189; path between organism and 165; phosphorus content 135–6; purine 139–40; pyrimidine 140; reading 148–55; sequencing 166, 226, 241; SINEs 202–5; structure xi, 136, 137–55; T4 bacteriophage 146–9; triplet of bases standing for single amino acids 146, 148–55; ultraviolet light, sensitivity to 167–8; Watson and Crick double helix 137–52, 155

Dobzhansky, Theodosius 127, 234

Double Helix, The (Watson) 138

E. coli 146–7, 148, 161, 163, 165, 168, 169, 190, 212

Early Theories of Sexual Generation (Cole) 85

echinoderms 13

Einstein, Albert 236

embryo, human:

amniotic cavity 6; blastocyst 5–6, 9; chorionic cavity 6; comparative embryology 11–14, 66; development of x, 3–13, 18–19; differences between eggs and 26; ectoderm 7, 8, 10, 18, 171; efficiency of 9; egg mythology and 20–1; endoderm7, 8, 9, 10, 171; fertilization 26–7, gap gene mutation 185, 194; gastrulation 7; germinal disc 6, 11, 18, 27; historical evolution, connection with xii, 10–14, 56–7; implantation 6; maternal-effect mutation 185; menstrual blood 22; mesoderm 7–9, 171; morula 5; neural crest 8, 12; neural groove 8; neural tube 171; notochord7, 8, 11, 12–14, 171; pair-rule gene mutation 185, 194; pharyngeal arches 12–14; placenta 6; point at which an embryo becomes a life, problem of 7–19; primitive streak 7; primordial germ cells 19, 171; regulatory genes of 170–2; segment-polarity mutation 185; screening 247; sex organs, development of 19, 171; somites 8, 171; speed of development 9; spinal cord 11; yolk sac 6, 9, 10, 18, 171; zygote 5, 9, 17

English Civil War 24

enzymes:

beta-galactosidase 161, 162, 163–4, 165, 169, 190; function 157, 158–9; genetic mutation, role in 158, 159–60; homogentisate 1, 2-dioxygenase 157, 158–9; phenylalanine hydroxylase 158–9, 165; substance of 157–8

epigensis 29, 39, 39, 48, 233

Escherichia coli 146

Essay on the Principle of Population (Malthus) 76

European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg 184

evolution, human 66–90

bacterial evolution and 209–18; cell theory illuminates see cell theory; Darwin’s theory of see Darwin; early theories of 1–65; embryology, connection with see embryo, human; genetic see genome, human and gene; insect 182–3 see also fruit fly 182–3; Lamarck begins modern idea of 61; micro 235–6; mutation and variation see genetic mutation and genetic variation; nature-philosophy, connection with see nature-philosophy; network view of genome illuminates see genome, human, network view; preformation, view of see preformation; sexual 196 see also embryo, human; vertebrates and 91–103

Exercitationes de generatione animalium (‘On the Generation of Animals’) (Harvey) 23, 24, 27

experiments, small number of species selected for 105–7, 111

Fabricius, Hieronymous 23, 25, 26–7, 29, 30, 39, 42

Fitzroy, Robert 69, 70, 71

Franklin, Rosalind Elise 137, 139, 142–3, 147, 168

fresh-water polyp 38–9

frog, African 105

fruit fly 105–6, 115, 144, 160

bric-a-brac gene 186–7; chromosomes, number of 121; development genes 184; engrailed gene 187, 188, 189, 190; Hox cluster 177–9, 181–3; mutations 177, 184–6, 196; number of genes 218–19; wingless gene 187, 188, 189, 190, 193; segment-polarity model 188–91; variation 116–19, 186–7, 196

Galapagos Islands 70, 71–2, 78, 80

Galileo 34

Galton, Francis 86, 102

Garcia-Fernandez, Jordi 180

Garrod, Archibald 156, 157, 160, 169

Garstang, Walter 93

Gaskell, Walter 93–4

Gasking, Elizabeth 31, 43

genes:

and traits, differences between 154–5, 160; ANT-P (fly) 177; collinearity 177–8, 183; Deformed 179, 183; species differentiation 178–85; embryonic development, role in 184–6; evolution of 180–3; first recognised as a unit of inheritance 160; FOXP2 222–6; gap genes 185, 194; homeosis and 183; Hox 174–87; Urn 1 173, 175–6, 194; maternal-effect 185; mutations 173–7, 184–5; network view of 155, 156–72; number of human 180–1, 201; operon 161–72, 177; pair-rule 185, 194; Pax 175; physical nature of 113, 135; plant 178–9; reading process 148–50; recessive traits 156–60; regulatory 161–72; repressor 163–72, 190; segment-polarity 185; structural 162–3

genetics:

Bateson coins term 112–13; birth of 119–20, 123–4; cytologists early investigations into 119–20, 123, 124, 233

genetic diseases and disorders see diseases and disorders, genetic

genetic mutation:

bithorax complex (fly) 176–7; chemically induced 116–18; embryonic 186–7; enzymes and 157–60; human 154–5, 155–60; fruit fly 116–17, 176–7; historical records of xiii, 98–100; homeosis and 174--5, 177, 178; mechanism for 152–5; network genetics and 160–72; plant 178–9; regulatory genes and 172, 173–87

genetic variation 14–17

Bateson attempts to solve nature of xii-xiii; Bateson challenges Darwin’s theories of gradual change 94–103, 104–6; biometricians study 102; chemically induced 116–18; Darwin bases natural selection on xii, 17, 73, 74, 78, 79, 80, 195; Darwin fails to prove generation of 83–6, 89; demarcation of species, problem of 17; discontinuous 100–3, 104–6; genes and traits, distinction between 154–5; intracellular pangenesis 111 - 12, 123–4; Mendelism 108–11, 112–13, 123–4, 125, 126; meristic 97–8; origin of 67, 71–3; recessive traits 156–60; regulatory genes and 172–99; toleration of networks as explanation for 195–9

genetic modification (GM) of crops xv, 248–9

genome, human:

bacterial genome evolution 209–18; chimpanzee, genome differences 240–2; chromosome, function see chromosome; code, solving structure of 137–52; cytologists investigate 119–20, 124; distance of each gene from any other 119; embryo growth see embryo, human; eukaryotes, first 213–16; eukaryotes, sequencing of 217, 218; evolutionary inheritance of 9–10, 15, 56–7, 66, 201–7, 212, 222; first maps 119; genes and traits, distinction between 154–5; increase in complexity 238–9; inherited disease and 153–4; junk DNA 201–6, 212, 220; length ix; linkage groups 117–19, 125, 126; main function ix-x; mitochondria, origin of 214–16; modern cell born 214; mutation see genetic mutation; natural selection, properties united in theory of 83; nucleus, origin and elaboration of 213–14, 215; number of genes in 201, 219–20; number of genes in relation to complexity of species 220–1; prospects for modification xv, 243–50; recessive traits 156–60; RNA as initial carrier of human genetic material 208, 209; sequencing 166; sequencing, first genomes to undergo 207; transition to self-awareness, role in 222–6, 239–43; unique 218, 222–6, 239–43; variation see genetic variation

genome, network view of:

creationists argue against 235–6; history of discovery 156–72; hox cluster and 177–87; internet as model for 193–4; microevolution and 235–6; operon, genome as 161–72; population genetics, compared to 234–5; segment-polarity model 188–94, 230; speciation and 230–3; theory of 155, 194–9, 200–1, 228–30; variation, explains 194–9, 229–30

Gilbert, Walter 165–6

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von xii, 53–7, 62, 65, 67, 73, 87, 96, 98, 101, 170, 175, 178, 180, 191, 236

Gratzer, Walter 142, 143

grasshopper 124

Haeckel, Ernst 76, 87

Haldane, J.B.S. 91

Haller, Albrecht von 38, 39, 43, 48, 114, 170

Hartsoeker, Nicolas 33, 36–7

Harvard University 166 Harvey, William 23–7, 28, 29, 47, 53, 84, 101, 143, 227, 233

Henslow, John Stevens 69, 70, 71

Highmore, Nathaniel 24, 34

History of Embryology (Needham) 21

History of Generation, The (Highmore) 24

HIV-1 202, 243

Hohenheim, Theophrastus von 37 see also Paracelsus 84, 99, 172

Holland 33–4

Holland, Peter 180

Hooke, Robert 29, 36, 45

Hooker, Joseph 81

horse roundworm 123

house mouse 220–1

Hull, David 82

Huygens, Constantijn 33

Huygens, Chistiaan 33, 34–5

Innocent XII, Pope 28

Investigations into Generation (Gasking) 31

IVF (in vitro fertilization) xv, 247, 248–9

Jacob, Francis 161–5, 169

Jacobs, Donna 179

James I, King 24, 179

jellyfish 178

John Hopkins University 91, 94, 114

John Jones Institute 91

King’s College, London 137

Lamarck, Jean Baptiste de 61, 83, 89, 114–15, 235

lancelets 11, 12, 13, 92, 180

larval lamprey 14

Laue, Max von 136–7

Leeuwenhoek, Antony van 33, 34, 40, 44, 85

Lewis, Edward B. 176, 177, 183, 187

Linnean Society 82, 93, 94

Lwoff, Andre 165

Lyell, Charles 74, 75, 76, 79, 80

Malebranche, Nicholas 30

Malpighi, Marcello 28–9, 32, 34, 39, 47

Malthus, Thomas 76–7, 78

Materials for the study of variation (Bateson) xiii, 89–90, 95–6, 98, 100, 102–3, 104, 110, 174, 184, 195, 223

Matthaei, Heinrich 150, 151

Maupertuis, Pierre-Louis Moreau de 85

McGinnis, William 179

Medical University of South Carolina 179

Mémoires sur les insects (Reaumur) 39

Mendel, Gregor 106–11, 112–13, 115, 117–18, 119, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 143, 144, 146, 148, 156, 175, 176

microscope:

invention 3, 4, 24; science (microscopy) 28–9, 33–4, 120

Miescher, Johann Friedrich 131, 132, 133, 135

Monod, Jacques 161–5, 169, 179

Monsters and Marvels (Pare) 99, 172

Morgan, Thomas Hunt 91, 113, 114, 115–16, 119, 124–5, 126–7, 134–5, 144, 146, 160, 170, 175, 176, 195, 227, 234

Muller, Hermann Joseph 127

Museum of Natural History, France 58

mycoplasmas 209–12

Natural History Museum 15

natural selection:

bible, clashes with 73–4; birth of idea xii 71–3; Darwin’s first paper on 80–2; destiny, contains no element of 76–7, 88–9; destiny, perverted as an instrument of progressive 87–9, 101; elegance 83; endurance 82; Lyell’s influence upon 74, 75, 76, 79, 80, 81; Malthus influence upon 76–8; modern science, effects of theory upon xiii-xiv; popularity, inability to prove origin of variation effects 89–90; rehabilitation in ‘modern synthesis’ 195; superabundance 76; term 75; time scale 73–4; uniformitarian opposition to 74; variation, dependence upon existence of 78–9, 83–4, 89, 104, 195

Nature 142, 143

nature-philosophy xii, 52, 67

depictions of practitioners xiv; embryology and evolution, brings forth first connections between 56–7, 66; Goethe and 53–7; link with modern theory of evolution 61, 63, 66, 68, 73, 75, 76, 80, 83, 87, 98, 101, 145; scala naturae 56; vis essentalis, 52–3, 56

Needham, Joseph 21

Newton, Isaac 236

Nirenberg, Marshall 150, 151

Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine

1933 126

1946 127

1965 165

1980 166

1995 183

nucleic acid 132–3

Nusslein-Volhard, Christiane 184, 185, 186, 187–8, 194, 230

Odell, Garrett M. 188, 192–3, 226, 229–30

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Darwin) xiii, 79, 82, 91, 93, 98, 127

Onania 37

ova 121–7

Ovary of Eve: Egg and Sperm and Preformation, The (Pinto-Correia) xv, 35

Owen, Richard 36

Padian, Kevin 204

Paracelsus 84, 99, 172

Paré, Ambroise 172, 185, 186

parthenogenesis 40

Pasteur Institute, Paris 161

Pauling, Linus 138

Payne, Fernandus 114–15, 116, 144

Pearson, Karl 102

Philosophie zoologiaue 61

Pliny the Elder 21

pneumococcus bacteria 134–5

Poulton, Edward 102

preformationism xi, 49–50, 227, 233

birth of 27–8, 30–2; Bonnet’s justification of 39–48; death of 43–4, 46–7, 48–53; depictions of practitioners xiv; regeneration and 39; spermism and 36–8

Principles of Geology (Lyell) 74, 76

proteins:

amino acids, relation to 132–3; as a carrier of genetic information 133–4; chromosomes and 132; collagen 165; enzymes and 157; keratin 165; nucleic acid and 132; polyphenylalanine 150; repressor 163–6; term coined 132; versatility 132

Ptashne, Mark 166, 168

Réaumur, Rene-Antoine Ferchault de 39–40

RNA (ribonucleic acid) 149, 202

as initial carrier of genetic material in human ancestors 207–8; function 149–55; genomes 207; polyuridylic acid 150; transfer 151, 162; uracil 149, 150, 151; versatility 207

Rockefeller Institute Hospital 134

Röntgen, Wilhelm 136

Rothschild Zoological Museum 15

Rothschild, Lionel Walter 15

roundworm 218

Royal Horticultural Society, London 112

Royal Society, London 29, 40

Saint-Hilaire, Etienne Geoffroy 57–8, 59, 61–3, 64–5, 67, 68, 80, 91, 96, 98, 172, 175, 180, 191

Schleiden, Matthias 45–6

Schwann, Theodore 45–6

sea squirts 11, 12, 13, 92

Selfish Gene, The (Dawkins) 234

semen, early experiments with 22, 25, 26–7, 42–3

Seven Years War 48–9

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) 243

shrimp 182

Soret, Frédéric 57

Spallanzani, Lazzaro 38, 42–3, 46, 85, 91

sperm 26, 27

as parasites 35–6; birth 171; cell theory proves individuality of cell structure 44–5; discovery of 33, 34–5; meiosis (cell division) 121; preformation, link with 36–8; recombination 121–7; spermism 36, 37–8; term coined 36; unicellular structure discovered 45–7

Stanford University, California 160

Stebbing, Thomas 94

Steiner, Rudolph xii

Stewart, Robert 69

Stock, Gregory 246

Sturtevant, Alfred H. 127

Sutton, Walter 124

Swammerdam, Jan 30, 32, 42, 47

T4 bacteriophage 146, 148

Tatum, Edward L. 160, 169

teleost fish 181

Theoria generationis (‘Theory of Generation’) 48

Trembley, Abraham 38–9, 170

University of Bologna 28

University of California, Berkeley 204

University of Washington, Seattle 188, 190

Voyage of the Beagle, The (Darwin) 70–1

Wallace, Alfred Russell 80–1, 82

Watson, James 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 144, 145–6, 155

Weldon, Walter 102

Wieschaus, Eric 184, 185, 186, 187, 194, 230

Wilkins, Maurice 137, 142

Wolff, Caspar Friedrich 48–52, 53, 55, 56, 88–9

X-rays 116, 136, 137, 138, 143, 168

Yale University 179

zebra fish 181