Scott F. Gilbert

Last updated
Scott F. Gilbert
Education Wesleyan University (BA)
Johns Hopkins University (MA)
Johns Hopkins University (PhD)
TitleHoward A. Schneiderman '48 Professor Emeritus in Biology at Swarthmore College

Scott Frederick Gilbert (born 1949) is an American evolutionary developmental biologist and historian of biology.

Contents

Scott Gilbert is the Howard A. Schneiderman Professor of Biology (emeritus) at Swarthmore College and a Finland Distinguished Professor (emeritus) at the University of Helsinki.

Education

He obtained his B.A. in both biology and religion from Wesleyan University (1971). In 1976, he received his MA (history of science, under the aegis of Donna Haraway) and his PhD (biology, in the laboratory of Barbara Migeon) from the Johns Hopkins University. [1] His postdoctoral work at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, pursued research on ribosome synthesis in the laboratory of Masayasu Nomura (1976–1978) and investigated developmental immunology in the laboratory of Robert Auerbach (1978–1980). [2]

Academic career

Gilbert is the author of the textbook Developmental Biology (first edition, 1985, and now in its 13th edition, 2023) and has also co-authored (with David Epel) the textbook Ecological Developmental Biology (2009, 2015). He has been credited with helping initiate evolutionary developmental biology and ecological developmental biology as new biological disciplines. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Gilbert's early biological research includes documenting the first pyrimidine-initiated RNA transcripts, [7] elucidating the mechanisms by which antibodies inactivate poliovirus, [8] and studying the roles of paracrine factors in kidney and lung branching. [9] [10]  After co-authoring an early paper in evolutionary developmental biology, [11] he inaugurated a project on the development of turtle shells. With collaborator Judith Cebra-Thomas, Gilbert elucidated the roles of several paracrine factors involved in carapace formation and made the unexpected conclusion that the plastron was derived from trunk neural crest cells. The latter studies led to the hypothesis that the turtle evolved by respecifying its cell types. [12] [13] His most recent studies concern the development of the holobiont and the importance of plasticity and symbiotic microbes during normal animal development. [14] [15] He has argued that the holobiont is an important unit of evolutionary selection. [16]

Gilbert's research in the history and philosophy of biology concerns the interactions of genetics and embryology; feminist critiques of biology; Antireductionism; the formation of biological disciplines; and Bioethics. Some of these studies have documented the origins of the gene theory from embryological controversies, [17] [18] the formation of molecular biology and biochemistry as separate disciplines, [19] the importance of feminist critique as a normative control in cell and developmental biology, [20] [21] and the importance of the environment in phenotype production. [22] [23] [24] His work in the interactions of biology and religion have included extensive analysis of wonder, [25] as well as studies of when different groups of biologists claim that individual human life begins. [26] He has identified (with Ziony Zevit) the bone from which Eve was generated, [27] analyzed embryonic imagery in the art of Gustav Klimt, Diego Rivera, and Frida Kahlo, [28] and has provided one of the first analyses of nerd humor. [29] His biology textbooks have been experiments in the interactions between biology and its social critiques.

Personal life

Scott F. Gilbert is the son of Marvin (Bud) and Elaine Caplan Gilbert. He was raised in East Rockaway, New York, . [30] He is married to Anne Raunio (m.1971), and has three children and two grandchildren. In 2015, Gilbert became emeritus professor at both Swarthmore College and the University of Helsinki, and in 2016 he moved with Anne to Portland, Oregon, where he is on the Asian Arts Council of the Portland Art Museum.

Honors

Honorary doctorates

Awards and honors

Selected publications

For full publications list, see Swarthmore College Works.

Articles

A select number of his works are freely available online.

Books

Related Research Articles

The theory of recapitulation, also called the biogenetic law or embryological parallelism—often expressed using Ernst Haeckel's phrase "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny"—is an historical hypothesis that the development of the embryo of an animal, from fertilization to gestation or hatching (ontogeny), goes through stages resembling or representing successive adult stages in the evolution of the animal's remote ancestors (phylogeny). It was formulated in the 1820s by Étienne Serres based on the work of Johann Friedrich Meckel, after whom it is also known as Meckel–Serres law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ontogeny</span> Origination and development of an organism

Ontogeny is the origination and development of an organism, usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the study of the entirety of an organism's lifespan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolutionary developmental biology</span> Comparison of organism developmental processes

Evolutionary developmental biology is a field of biological research that compares the developmental processes of different organisms to infer how developmental processes evolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern synthesis (20th century)</span> Fusion of natural selection with Mendelian inheritance

The modern synthesis was the early 20th-century synthesis of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and Gregor Mendel's ideas on heredity into a joint mathematical framework. Julian Huxley coined the term in his 1942 book, Evolution: The Modern Synthesis. The synthesis combined the ideas of natural selection, Mendelian genetics, and population genetics. It also related the broad-scale macroevolution seen by palaeontologists to the small-scale microevolution of local populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolutionary biology</span> Study of the processes that produced the diversity of life

Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life forms on Earth. Evolution holds that all species are related and gradually change over generations. In a population, the genetic variations affect the phenotypes of an organism. These changes in the phenotypes will be an advantage to some organisms, which will then be passed on to their offspring. Some examples of evolution in species over many generations are the peppered moth and flightless birds. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biology emerged through what Julian Huxley called the modern synthesis of understanding, from previously unrelated fields of biological research, such as genetics and ecology, systematics, and paleontology.

A germ layer is a primary layer of cells that forms during embryonic development. The three germ layers in vertebrates are particularly pronounced; however, all eumetazoans produce two or three primary germ layers. Some animals, like cnidarians, produce two germ layers making them diploblastic. Other animals such as bilaterians produce a third layer between these two layers, making them triploblastic. Germ layers eventually give rise to all of an animal's tissues and organs through the process of organogenesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heterochrony</span> Evolutionary change

In evolutionary developmental biology, heterochrony is any genetically controlled difference in the timing, rate, or duration of a developmental process in an organism compared to its ancestors or other organisms. This leads to changes in the size, shape, characteristics and even presence of certain organs and features. It is contrasted with heterotopy, a change in spatial positioning of some process in the embryo, which can also create morphological innovation. Heterochrony can be divided into intraspecific heterochrony, variation within a species, and interspecific heterochrony, phylogenetic variation, i.e. variation of a descendant species with respect to an ancestral species.

In embryology, cleavage is the division of cells in the early development of the embryo, following fertilization. The zygotes of many species undergo rapid cell cycles with no significant overall growth, producing a cluster of cells the same size as the original zygote. The different cells derived from cleavage are called blastomeres and form a compact mass called the morula. Cleavage ends with the formation of the blastula, or of the blastocyst in mammals.

<i>Origination of Organismal Form</i> 2003 biology anthology edited by Gerd Müller and Stuart A. Newman

Origination of Organismal Form: Beyond the Gene in Developmental and Evolutionary Biology is an anthology published in 2003 edited by Gerd B. Müller and Stuart A. Newman. The book is the outcome of the 4th Altenberg Workshop in Theoretical Biology on "Origins of Organismal Form: Beyond the Gene Paradigm", hosted in 1999 at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research. It has been cited over 200 times and has a major influence on extended evolutionary synthesis research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morphogenetic field</span> Developmental biology concept

In the developmental biology of the early twentieth century, a morphogenetic field is a research hypothesis and a discrete region of cells in an embryo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep homology</span> Control of growth and differentiation by deeply conserved genetic mechanisms

In evolutionary developmental biology, the concept of deep homology is used to describe cases where growth and differentiation processes are governed by genetic mechanisms that are homologous and deeply conserved across a wide range of species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyomandibula</span> Set of bones in most fishes that plays a role in suspending the jaws

The hyomandibula, commonly referred to as hyomandibular [bone], is a set of bones that is found in the hyoid region in most fishes. It usually plays a role in suspending the jaws and/or operculum. It is commonly suggested that in tetrapods, the hyomandibula evolved into the columella (stapes).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerd B. Müller</span> Austrian biologist (born 1953)

Gerd B. Müller is an Austrian biologist who is emeritus professor at the University of Vienna where he was the head of the Department of Theoretical Biology in the Center for Organismal Systems Biology. His research interests focus on vertebrate limb development, evolutionary novelties, evo-devo theory, and the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. He is also concerned with the development of 3D based imaging tools in developmental biology.

Brian Keith Hall is the George S. Campbell Professor of Biology and University Research Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Hall has researched and extensively written on bone and cartilage formation in developing vertebrate embryos. He is an active participant in the evolutionary developmental biology (EVO-DEVO) debate on the nature and mechanisms of animal body plan formation. Hall has proposed that the neural crest tissue of vertebrates may be viewed as a fourth embryonic germ layer. As such, the neural crest - in Hall's view - plays a role equivalent to that of the endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm of bilaterian development and is a definitive feature of vertebrates. As such, vertebrates are the only quadroblastic, rather than triploblastic bilaterian animals. In vertebrates the neural crest serves to integrate the somatic division and visceral division together via a wide range novel vertebrate tissues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Maienschein</span> American professor, biologist (born 1950)

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<i>Endless Forms Most Beautiful</i> (book) 2005 evo-devo book by Sean B. Carroll

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Ralf Josef Sommer is a German biologist specializing in evolutionary developmental biology.

The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) consists of a set of theoretical concepts argued to be more comprehensive than the earlier modern synthesis of evolutionary biology that took place between 1918 and 1942. The extended evolutionary synthesis was called for in the 1950s by C. H. Waddington, argued for on the basis of punctuated equilibrium by Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge in the 1980s, and was reconceptualized in 2007 by Massimo Pigliucci and Gerd B. Müller.

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Ecological evolutionary developmental biology (eco-evo-devo) is a field of biology combining ecology, developmental biology and evolutionary biology to examine their relationship. The concept is closely tied to multiple biological mechanisms. The effects of eco-evo-devo can be a result of developmental plasticity, the result of symbiotic relationships or epigenetically inherited. The overlap between developmental plasticity and symbioses rooted in evolutionary concepts defines ecological evolutionary developmental biology. Host- microorganisms interactions during development characterize symbiotic relationships, whilst the spectrum of phenotypes rooted in canalization with response to environmental cues highlights plasticity. Developmental plasticity that is controlled by environmental temperature may put certain species at risk as a result of climate change.

References

  1. Gilbert S. F. 2009. Bio. Evolution and Development 11: 331 – 332.
  2. Gilbert S. F. 2009. Bio. Evolution and Development 11: 331 – 332.
  3. Mikhailov, A. T. and Gilbert S. F. 2005. Putting evo-devo into focus: An interview with Scott F. Gilbert. International Journal of Developmental Biology 48: 9 – 16.
  4. Gilbert, S. F. 2001. Ecological developmental biology: Developmental biology meets the real world. Developmental Biology  233: 1 - 12.
  5. Duschek, J. It's the ecology, stupid. Nature 418: 578 - 579.
  6. Wake, M., Development in the real world. Reviewed Work: Ecological Developmental Biology: Integrating Epigenetics, Medicine, and Evolution by Scott F. Gilbert, David Epel. Amer. Sci. 98(1): 75-78.
  7. Gilbert, S. F., Boer, H. A. de, and Nomura, M. 1979. Identification of initiation sites for the in vitro transcription of rRNA operons rrnE and rrnA in Escherichia  coli.  Cell 17: 211-224.
  8. Icenogle, J., Shiwen, H., Duke, G., Gilbert, S. F., Rueckert, R., and Anderegg, J. 1983. Neutralization of poliovirus by a monoclonal antibody:  Kinetics and stoichiometry. Virology 127: 412 - 425.
  9. Cebra-Thomas, J. A., Bromer, J., Gardner, R., Lam, G. K., Scheipe, H., and Gilbert, S. F.  2003. T-box gene products are required for mesenchymal induction of epithelial branching in the embryonic mouse lung. Developmental Dynamics226: 82 - 90.
  10. Ritvos, O., Tuuri, T., Erämaa, M., Sainio, K., Hilden, K., Saxén, L., and Gilbert, S. F.  1995. Activin disrupts epithelial branching morphogenesis in developing murine kidney, pancreas, and salivary gland. Mechanisms of Development  50: 229 - 245.
  11. Gilbert, S. F., Opitz, J., and Raff, R. A. 1996. Resynthesizing evolutionary and developmental biology. Developmental Biology 173: 357 - 372.
  12. Gilbert, S. F., Cebra-Thomas, J. A., and Burke, A. C. (2007). How the turtle gets its shell. In Biology of Turtles (J. Wyneken, M. H. Gofrey, and V. Bels, eds.). CRC Press, Boca Raton. Pp. 1- 16.
  13. Cebra-Thomas, J. A., Betters, E., Yin, M., Plafkin, C., McDow, K., and Gilbert, S. F. 2007. A late-emerging population of trunk neural crest cells forms the plastron in the turtle Trachemys scripta. Evolution and Development 9: 267 – 277.
  14. Gilbert, S.F., Sapp. J., and Tauber, A. I. 2012. A symbiotic view of life: We have never been individuals. Quarterly Review of Biology 87: 325 – 341.
  15. Gilbert, Scott F; Bosch, Thomas C. G; Ledón-Rettig, Cristina. (2015). "Eco-Evo-Devo: developmental symbiosis and developmental plasticity as evolutionary agents". Nature Reviews Genetics 16: 611–622.
  16. Roughgarden, J., Gilbert, S. F., Rosenberg, E., Zilber-Rosenberg, I, and Lloyd, E. A. 2017. Holobionts as units of selection and a model of their population dynamics and evolution. Biological Theory 13: 44-65.
  17. Gilbert, S. F. 1978.  The embryological origins of the gene theory. J. Hist. Biol. 11: 307-351.
  18. Gilbert, S. F. 1988.  Cellular Politics:  Just, Goldschmidt, and the attempts to reconcile embryology and genetics,  In The American Development of Biology  (ed. R. Rainger, K. Benson, J. Maienschein) University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. pp. 311-346.
  19. Gilbert, S. F. 1982.  Intellectual traditions in the life sciences:  Molecular biology and biochemistry.  Perspec. Biol. Med. 26: 151-162.
  20. Beldecos, A., Bailly, S., Gilbert, S., Hicks, K., Kenschaft, L., Niemczyk, N., Rosenberg, R., Schaertel, S., and Wedel, A. 1988.  The importance of feminist critique for contemporary cell biology.  Hypatia 3:  61-76.
  21. Gilbert, S. F. and Howes-Mischel 2004. "Show Me Your Original Face before You Were Born": The Convergence of Public Fetuses and Sacred DNA. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 26: 377 – 394.
  22. Gilbert, S. F. 2001. Ecological developmental biology: Developmental biology meets the real world. Developmental Biology  233: 1 - 12.
  23. Gilbert, S. F. 2012. Ecological developmental biology: Environmental signals for normal animal development. Evolution and Development 14: 20 – 28.
  24. Gilbert, S. F. 2002. Genetic determinism: The battle between scientific data and social image in contemporary developmental biology. In On Human Nature. Anthropological, Biological, and Philosophical Foundations. (Grunwald, A., Gutmann, M., and Neumann-Held, E. M., eds.) Springer-Verlag, NY. Pp. 121 - 140.
  25. Gilbert, S. F. 2013. Wonder and the necessary alliances of science and religion. Euresis Journal 4: 7-30.
  26. Gilbert, S. F. 2008. When "personhood" begins in the embryo: avoiding a syllabus of errors. Birth Defects Res C Embryo Today 84: 164 - 173.
  27. Gilbert, S. F. and Zevit, Z. 2001. Congenital human baculum deficiency: The generative bone of Genesis 2: 21-23. American Journal of Medical Genetics 101: 284 - 285.
  28. Gilbert. S. F. and Braukmann, S. 2011. Fertilization narratives in the art of Gustav Klimt, Diego Rivera, and Frida Kahlo: Repression, Domination, and Eros among cells. Leonardo 44: 221 – 227.
  29. Gilbert, S. F. 1985.  Bacchus in the laboratory:  In defense of scientific puns. Perspec. Biol. Med. 29: 148-152.
  30. Gilbert S. F. 2009. Bio. Evolution and Development 11: 331 – 332.
  31. Session 4- Bridging Buddhism and Science. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DPdHJkPLcM
  32. "Service Award". Pan-Am Evo Devo (PASEDB). Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  33. "Biennial Award 2024 to Scott Gilbert – Euro Evo Devo". 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-09-17.