Symbiogenesis: the hidden face of Constantin Merezhkowsky

Constantin Merezhkowsky is celebrated today for his theory of symbiogenesis, postulated in the early decades of the twentieth century, particularly that chloroplasts were symbiotic cyanophytes (cyanobacteria). While biologists point singularly to what they see as his heroic achievement, its neglect and subsequent rediscovery, we introduce a broader and much more complex perspective on his science, his troubled life and career. We present a view of Merezhkowsky as zoologist, anthropologist, botanist, philosopher, and novelist. We explain the genesis of his theory of the origin of chloroplasts and of nucleus and cytoplasm as symbionts, as well as his depiction of the geo-chemical context of the origins and early evolution of life on earth. We also disclose his sordid social and political activities, his eugenics and racist writings, his paedophilia, and his metaphysics. Finally, we describe the context of his elaborate suicide in 1921.     

From Darkness to Light

Not so long ago I happened to treat a Jewish eighth-grade gymnasium student brought to Petrograd from a province. It was fall and the following spring he was to take his qualifying examinations. The young man, who belonged to a prosperous family, had brilliant abilities and graduated from each class with excellent grades—what would you think his illness was? He suffered—in his own words—from the throes of creative writing. Days and nights he poured over a notebook with his compositions in search of the best form to express his thoughts. Only after applying incredible efforts could one tear him away from his note-books and send him to bed at five or six o'clock in the morning, and this happened on a daily basis. With each day his mental health grew worse. It was clear that the young man undermined his health by overstudying, and that he had reached the point where he needed to worry about his health, not his studies, because a serious mental illness was descending upon him. The young man was well liked by everyone in his high-school. The teachers considered him the best student, and having learned about his illness, they promised to petition to grant him the right to graduate from school without the final examination and with a certificate of excellent. But none of that helped. The young man could not relax, spending days and nights over his compositions and constantly tormenting himself with his "throes of creative writing."     

Hans Zinsser: a tale of two cultures

Hans Zinsser, president of the Society of American Bacteriologists in 1926, was known as much for his literary and textbook writing as for his scientific contributions. He was a widely known scientist and person of letters. His early interests in poetry and other forms of literature were maintained and developed during his career as a microbiologist, and his most enduring legacy is based on his writing about microbiology for a general readership as well as his reflective and philosophical autobiography.     

DNA rearrangements associated with a transposable element in yeast

The his4-912 mutation results from insertion of a 6200 bp transposable element into the his4 gene of yeast. In order to clone the his4-912 mutation, the plasmid pBR322 was integrated into the his4 gene by means of yeast transformation, and then the vector sequences and the his4-912 insertion element were excised as a single restriction fragment. This his 4-912 insertion element is homologous to Ty1, a family of repetitive yeast DNA sequences. His+ revertants derived from the his4-912 mutant carry a number of chromosomal aberrations including deletions, translocations, a transposition and an inversion. The majority of His+ revertants result from deletions which have both endpoints within the element and which leave behind only 300 bp of the insertion element. Other derivatives of the his4-912 mutant carry deletions which have one endpoint in the insertion element and one endpoint in the his4 coding sequence. In two His+ revertants carrying reciprocal translocations, the chromosome III translocation breakpoints occur within the his4-912 insertion element. A His+ revertant carrying an inversion of most of the left arm of chromosome III may be an intermediate in transposition of the his4-912 insertion element to a new site on chromosome III.     

Thomas Hunt Morgan as an Embryologist: The View from Bryn Mawr

Thomas Hunt Morgan taught at Bryn Mawr College from 1891 until1904. During his years there he concentrated his research interestson embryology; he included regeneration as an integral partof development. This article maintains that Morgan did not abandonhis interest in embryology when he became a geneticist at Columbia,but it deals mainly with his teaching and research while atBryn Mawr. He worked on the development of a great diversityof organisms, plant and animal, he used widely differing experimentalmethods to investigate them, and he concerned himself with manydifferent general and special problems. He strove to investigateproblems that were directly soluble by experimental intervention,and was highly critical, in the best possible way, of the experimentsand interpretations made by his contemporaries, who regardedhim as a leader. He exerted his influence on developmental biologynot only through his research, but also through a number offine textbooks, and by his teaching. During his Bryn Mawr yearshe encouraged his students, undergraduate and graduate, to carryout independent research. He sometimes published with them asco-author, but dozens of articles by his students were publishedwithout carrying Morgan's name as co-author.     

pMB9 plasmids bearing the Salmonella typhimurium his operon and gnd gene

A plasmid containing the entire Salmonella typhimurium his operon was constructed from plasmid pM89 and an EcoRI fragment of phi 80 his imm lambda DNA. The recombinant pST41 also includes the glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (gnd) gene and has one EcoRI endonuclease cleavage site in the integrated fragment. This plasmid served as a source for the construction of two additional plasmids, one carrying the OGDC-region of the his operon and the other a CBHAFIE segment of the his gene along with the gnd gene. The presence of the his operon in the constructed plasmids was confirmed by hybridization to S. typhimurium his RNA. The location of the gnd gene in the CBHAFIE fragment of the his gene was confirmed genetically: after transfection with the plasmid bearing the gnd gene, a gnd recipient gained the capacity to utilize gluconate as a sole carbon source. The DNAs of the three hybrid plasmids were analyzed by gel electrophoresis. By comparing the EcoRI endonuclease cleavage pattern of these three hybrid plasmids with the DNA cleavage pattern of phi 80 his imm lambda, phi 80 imm lambda and lambda phages, the EcoRI cleavage map of phi 80 his imm lambda was obtained.     

What's so special about Osler?

Sir William Osler was an outstanding figure in American and British Medicine during the early years of this century. Over fifty years after his death, his name is still remembered and honored, whereas other leaders who were equally important in the eyes of their contemporaries have been relegated to the realm of history. This brief review attempts to discover what special qualities have kept Osler''s memory vivid. No single characteristic of his skill, science, or personality seems in itself to explain his continuing reputation. Rather, a combination of his eminence in several different medical schools, his presence at a time of revolution in medical teaching and thought, his authorship of one of the most successful medical textbooks, and an enthusiastic claque of ex-students and colleagues seem to have combined to maintain his memory as a leader of medicine.     

Philip R. White (1901–1968)—a tribute

The groundbreaking research carried out by Philip R. White in the 1930s and 1940s played a critical early role in the development of modern plant biotechnology and the production of biotech crops. He gained instant fame and became a historical figure early in his career by becoming the first person to attain unlimited growth of cultured plant tissues. White was one of the best known and most influential figures of his generation in plant cell culture research. His tireless and lifelong efforts to promote the use of plant cell culture systems inspired a generation of scientists and stimulated much scientific activity. White was not only a brilliant and visionary scientist but also a highly principled man who spoke courageously about the great moral and political issues of his day. He was admired as much for his science as for his humanity. His belief that plant cell culture research was not well represented at national and international meetings, and his deeply held conviction that science had to be international and without borders in order to be of service to humankind led to the founding of the International Association for Plant Biotechnology in 1963, currently the largest forum for the international plant biotechnology community. This tribute honors and celebrates Philip R. White for his inspiring science, for his kind and generous mentoring of young scientists, for his advocacy of plant cell culture research and its applications, for his promotion of international scientific exchange and cooperation, and for his leadership in the founding of the International Association for Plant Biotechnology.     

Osler and the Jewish people

In his writings and actions, Sir William Osler betrayed no evidence of anti-Semitism. In his era, this trait was unusual. Two of his articles, "Letter from Berlin" and "Israel and medicine," dealt directly with his thoughts on the Jewish people. In both he spoke out against anti-Semitism. Osler had friendships with Jewish colleagues--an example is the great regard in which he held US pediatrician Dr. Abraham Jacobi. Osler was not a saint, and he had his "rough side," but in his relationships with Jewish colleagues his example remains relevant.     

The Philosophical Origins of Mitchell's Chemiosmotic Concepts

Mitchell's formulation of the chemiosmotic theory of oxidative phosphorylation in 1961 lacked any experimental support for its three central postulates. The path by which Mitchell reached this theory is explored. A major factor was the role of Mitchell's philosophical system conceived in his student days at Cambridge. This system appears to have become a tacit influence on his work in the sense that Polanyi understood all knowledge to be generated by an interaction between tacit and explicit knowing. Early in his life Mitchell had evolved a simple philosophy based on fluctoids, fluctids and statids which was developed in a thesis submitted for the z at the University of Cambridge, England. This aspect of his work was rejected by the examiners and became a tacit element in his intellectual development. It is argued from his various publications that this philosophy can be traced as an underlying theme behind much of Mitchell's theoretical writing in the 50's leading, through his notion of vectorial metabolism, to the formulation and amplification of the chemiosmotic theory in the sixties. This philosophy formed the basis for Mitchell of his understanding of biological systems and gave him his unique approach to cell biology. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Endocrine and developmental correlates of unilateral cryptorchidism in a wild baboon

A wild, group-living 8.5-year-old adult baboon was found to have only a single palpable testicle, the only case of cryptorchidism found among more than 200 males that we have examined. This young adult had an unusually small body size for his age, one that was comparable to that of immature males two years younger, and during maturation his body mass was increasingly small for his age. As a young adult, he also had very low testosterone concentrations, which, in combination with his small size, history of impaired growth, and the absence of any obvious scars around the scrotum, suggest that this is a case of spontaneous unilateral cryptorchidism of unknown cause rather than one of monorchidism arising from injury. Despite striking differences in his growth, adult body size, and testosterone levels, the male's cryptorchidism seemed to have relatively little effect on his social and sexual maturation in his natal group. Nonetheless, it may be related to his inability to gain entry into another group after dispersal.     

Genetic events associated with an insertion mutation in yeast

The his4-912 mutation shares similar genetic properties with mutations promoted by procaryotic insertion elements. This mutation lacks all three his4 functions. Many different classes of His+ revertants have been obtained from his4-912. The most frequent class of His+ revertants results from a site mutation which confers a cold-sensitive His- phenotype. Other classes of revertants contain translocations (one between chromosomes I and III and the other between chromosomes III and XII), a transposition of the his4 region to chromosome VIII, and an inversion of most of the left arm of chromosome III. Another class contains deletions which extend from his4-912 into the his4 region. In each of these classes of revertants, the his4 region is closely linked to the chromosomal aberration. Many of these revertants contain additional changes in chromosome structure (duplication, deletion and aneuploidy) that are unrelated to the reversion of his4-912 to His4+.     

On the trail of Dr. Fifer.

A gift from a patient drew Hope, BC, family physician Gerd Asche irrevocably into the local medical history of the 1858 Fraser River Gold Rush. Because of his interest in Dr. Max William Fifer, Asche undertook research missions in British Columbia, England and the US, converted his computer room to a research and writing centre, and wrote a biography of his predecessor and colleague. He recounts his experience and the growing satisfaction provided by his interest in medical history.     

The Case of Paul Kammerer: Evolution and Experimentation in the Early 20th Century

To some, a misguided Lamarckian and a fraud, to others a martyr in the fight against Darwinism, the Viennese zoologist Paul Kammerer (1880–1926) remains one of the most controversial scientists of the early 20th century. Here his work is reconsidered in light of turn-of-the-century problems in evolutionary theory and experimental methodology, as seen from Kammerer’s perspective in Vienna. Kammerer emerges not as an opponent of Darwinism, but as one would-be modernizer of the 19th-century theory, which had included a role for the inheritance of acquired characteristics. Kammerer attempted a synthesis of Darwinism with genetics and the chromosome theory, while retaining the modifying effects of the environment as the main source of favorable variation, and he developed his program of experimentation to support it. Kammerer never had a regular university position, but worked at a private experimental laboratory, with sidelines as a teacher and a popular writer and lecturer. On the lecture circuit he held forth on the significance of his science for understanding and furthering cultural evolution and he satisfied his passion for the arts and performance. In his dual career as researcher and popularizer, he did not always follow academic convention. In the contentious and rapidly changing fields of heredity and evolution, some of his stances and practices, as well as his outsider status and part-Jewish background, aroused suspicion and set the stage for the scandal that ended his career and prompted his suicide.     

Development of a congenitally malformed Japanese monkey in a free-ranging group during the first four years of life

A malformed male Japanese monkey completely lacking both hands was observed in a free-ranging situation to four years of age. He developed a locomotor pattern appropriate to his deformity, namely, bipedal walking on hind legs. He maintained a stronger bond with his mother than did normal same-aged male monkeys and retained the same high dominance ranking order as his mother. He did not show peripheralization as did normal juvenile monkeys. No social disadvantages based on his physical deficiencies were observed at least until the end of his fourth year of life.     

Elihu Yale and the medicine he promoted: the government general hospital and Madras Medical College, India

Much has been written about the philanthropist Elihu Yale and his life in the Americas and England, where he spent his beginnings and end. Less publicized is his life in India, where he spent the majority of his adult life and where he raised his family. A major contribution of Elihu Yale to medicine in India was his promotion of a local hospital in the major Indian trading port city of Madras. This essay briefly describes the history of that hospital and the medical college that grew out of it.     

The winter projects grey from the eyes

Selected texts derived from the edited diaries of an eighty year old man shed a light on the troubles of old age, declining health and wellbeing in a year prior to death. The author, Hans Warren (1921-2001) is a well known Dutch poet. Despite his poor physical condition and his mental frailty he confides his daily anguish and his lonely sufferings to his diary, resulting in an upsetting story of unhappiness and frustration. Although quite a few doctors are consulted, their advice seems inadequate or futile. The author's relationship with his supporting partner, who is nearly forty years his junior, suffers under the strain of daily conflicts and humiliating dependency. Despite all this they share moments of love and friendship until the end. The author expresses thankfulness for all things of beauty he can still enjoy.     

The role of routine serum testosterone testing: routine hormone analysis is not indicated as an initial screening test in the evaluation of erectile dysfunction

A 60-year-old male physician is self-referred to your office for evaluation of his erectile dysfunction, which has been worsening for 5 years. He reports his erections rarely achieve fullness for penetration, and he is unable to ejaculate. He has tried sildenafil citrate (Viagra(R); Pfizer Inc, New York, NY) with mild success in the past. He has a strong libido and feels healthy. He rarely exercises, but is on his feet most of the day at work. He has been healthy his whole life and never seeks a doctor's attention. He has no other medical problems. His only medication is a baby aspirin once a day. His physical examination, including genitalia, is normal. As part of his initial visit, should his serum testosterone level be checked by his urologist?