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From Butterflies to Blood

Human Genetics in the United Kingdom

  • Chapter
The Practices of Human Genetics

Part of the book series: Sociology of the Sciences ((SOSC,volume 21))

Abstract

Without doubt, life was injected into the otherwise backwater field of human genetics in 1953. In that year, the elucidation of the structure of the genetic material, DNA, was accomplished through the collaborative work of James Watson and Francis Crick at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England. As it did in other areas of genetics, this scientific insight was to stimulate research in human genetics profoundly, especially through an emphasis on the molecular analysis of DNA and its partners in protein synthesis. At Cambridge, this line of work coalesced into the first research center dedicated to the study of “molecular biology” and became the springboard, four decades later, for human genome projects directed toward identifying and sequencing all of the human genes.

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Notes and References

  1. Ford was a student of Julian Huxley at Oxford. After hearing about Ford from Huxley, Fisher travelled to Oxford to meet him. Arriving unexpectedly one day at Wadham College, Fisher was obliged to wait for some time until Ford eventually returned to his rooms and discovered his eminent visitor. This episode is recounted in papers from the Edmund Brisco Ford collection held at the Bodleian Library, Oxford (herein referred to as the Ford papers, Bodleian), Ms Eng., c. 2646, A.9. Despite their different professional affiliations, Fisher and Ford were to work together from 1923 until Fisher’s death in 1963.

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  2. Ford first planned to write a book on ecological genetics, or the study of evolution by the coordinated use of ecological and genetic investigations, in 1928 — choosing, at that time, to wait until he had conducted sufficient research. He had originally thought that would take no more than about 25 years. It took him 36 years to complete the volume that codified the field: E.B. Ford, Ecological Genetics (London: Methuen, 1964).

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  3. The concept of polymorphism is fleshed out in E.B. Ford, “Polymorphism and Taxonomy,” in The New Systematics ed., J. Huxley (London: Oxford University Press, 1940), pp. 493–513. However, the more succinct definition given here appears in Genetics for Medical Students by Ford E.B. (London: Methuen & Co, Ltd., 1942). See also: E.B. Ford, Genetic Polymorphism (London: Faber and Faber, 1965), p. 11.

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  4. Ford, Genetic Polymorphism, pp.26–27.

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  5. Ford, Genetic Polymorphism, p. 27.

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  6. Ford, Genetic Polymorphism, pp. 12–13.

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  7. Ford, Genetic Polymorphism, p. 11.

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  8. C.D. Darlington and K. Mather, The Elements of Genetics (London: Allen and Unwin, 1949).

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  9. In the primrose, Primula, the “thrum” and “pin”phenotypes are the result of a number of different genes affecting the height of the pollen-producing anthers, the size of the pistil, and the rate of germination of pollen grains. The genes for these separate features are so closely linked that they appear to be inherited as a single unit, i.e., a super-gene. Ford, Ecological Genetics, pp. 172–185.

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  10. R.A. Fisher, cited by R.R. Race, “An ‘Incomplete’ Antibody in Human Serum,” Nature, 153 (1944), pp. 771–772.

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  12. E.B. Ford, “Polymorphism,” Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 20 (1945), p. 85.

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  13. Ford, Genetic Polymorphism, pp. 28–29.

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  14. Ford papers, Bodleian: Ms Eng. c. 2660, F. 108: letter from Ford to P.M. Sheppard, February 12, 1970.

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  15. Ford papers, Bodleian: Ms Eng., c. 2660, F.97: letter from Ford to P.M. Sheppard, June 21, 1968.

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  16. Cyril Clarke, “Professor E.B. Ford” (Obituary), The Independent, January 25, 1988.

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  17. The Nuffield Foundation was the largest and most prominent of the several philanthropic enterprises endowed by William Morris (Lord Nuffield), designer of the Morris motor car and founder of Morris Motors Ltd. The Foundation’s stated purposes were threefold: “the advancement of health and the prevention and relief of sickness [through] medical research and teaching,” “the advancement of social well being,” and “the comfort and care of the aged poor.” See Ronald W. Clark, A Biography of the Nuffield Foundation (London: Longman Group Ltd, 1972), pp. 8–9.

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  18. Ford papers, Bodleian: Ms Eng., c. 2660, F.82: letter from Ford to Mr. Paterson, Secretary of Faculties, University Registry, Oxford, February 25, 1964.

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  19. Fuller biographical information can be found in Cyril Clarke, “Philip MacDonald Sheppard, 1921-1976,” Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 23 (1977), pp. 464–500.

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  20. Amateur Entomological Society (A.E.S.), Wants and Exchanges List No. 18, October 1952, p. 3.

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  21. E.B. Ford, Butterflies (London: Collins, 1945).

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  23. C.A. Clarke and J.P. Knudsen, “A Hybrid Swallowtail an Account of the Cross Papilio asterias x Papilio machaon and a Note on the Machaon (Complex of the North American continent),” Entomologist’s Record, 65 (1953), pp. 76–80. See also C.A. Clarke, letter to P.M. Sheppard, October 2 1952, in Clarke-Sheppard collection at the Museum of Natural History, London (herein referred to as the C-S collection, London).

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  24. C.A. Clarke, letter to P.M. Sheppard, October 14, 1952, C-S collection, London.

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  25. Cyril Clarke has pointed out that his knowledge of people, honed by his years of clinical practice, were useful in attracting Sheppard to Liverpool. In order to encourage him to consider the new post, Clarke decided to use a bit of reverse psychology, mentioning some of the drawbacks and asking Sheppard to call this opportunity to the attention of anyone else who would be interested. Within a short time, Sheppard himself applied. See C.A. Clarke, “Philip MacDonald Sheppard, 1921-1976,” Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society, 23 (1977), pp. 465–500.

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  26. This incident is mentioned in several places, including Clarke, “Philip MacDonald Sheppard,” p. 486 (note r); C.A. Clarke, Royal College of Physicians and Oxford Polytechnic Video Archive, c. 1986; and C.A. Clarke, interviews, May 21, 1991 and May 26, 1993.

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  27. C.A. Clarke letters to P.M. Sheppard, April 27, 1953 and May 11, 1953 and P.M. Sheppard, letter to C.A. Clarke, May 20, 1953, both C-S collection, London. This correspondence indicates that a trip took place in late May 1953. In a recent communication, Cyril Clarke suggests that the collecting trip may have taken place a little later — in early summer — because swallowtails emerge in June.

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  28. J.D. Watson and F.C. Crick, “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acids,” Nature, 171 (1953), pp. 737–738.

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  29. William H. Schneider, “British Research on the Genetics of Human Blood Groups Between the Wars,” paper for the American Association for the History of Medicine meeting Cleveland, Ohio, May 2, 1991.

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  30. C.A. Clarke, Letter to L.S. Penrose, March 9, 1954; Henry Cohen, letter to L.S. Penrose, April 12,1954; and C.A. Clarke, Letter to L.S. Penrose, May 24,1954. (All items are in the Penrose papers 123/7, held at University College, London). During this phase of his move into human genetic studies, Clarke turned for advice to the serological genetics group, established by Fisher at the Galton Laboratory in London before the second world war. The Galton professor at that time was Lionel S. Penrose.

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  31. I. Aird, H.H. Bentall, and J.A. Fraser Roberts, “A Relationship Between Cancer of Stomach and the ABO Blood Groups,” British Medical Journal, 1 (1953), pp. 799–801.

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  32. Clarke, “Philip MacDonald Sheppard,” p.487.

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  33. C.A. Clarke and P.M. Sheppard, “The Genetics of Papilio dardanus Brown I. Race Cenea from South Africa,” Genetics, 441 (1959), pp. 1347–1358; C.A. Clarke and P.M. Sheppard, “Further Studies on the Genetics of the Mimetic Butterfly Papilio memnon L.,” Philosophical Transactions, Royal Society London B., 263 (1971), pp. 45-76.

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  34. P. Levine and R. Stetson, “An Unusual Case of Intra-Group Agglutination,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 113 (1939), pp. 126–127; K. Landsteiner and A.S. Wiener, “An Agglutinable Factor in Human Blood Recognized by Immune Sera for Rhesus Blood,” Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 43 (1940), p. 223.

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  35. Race, “An ‘Incomplete’ Antibody in Human Serum,” p. 772. A more complete description of Fisher’s reasoning can be found in R.A. Fisher, “The Rhesus Factor: A Study in Scientific Method,”American Scientist, 35 (1947), p. 113.

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  36. P.M. Sheppard, “Polymorphism,Linkage and the Blood Groups,” The American Naturalist, 87 (1953), p. 291; P.M. Sheppard, “The Rh Blood-Groups,” Lancet, i (1957), p. 212.

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  37. There have been many recountings of the entire Rh story, from the identification of the basis of the disease in newborns to its treatment and prevention. See, for example, David R. Zimmerman, Rh: The Intimate History of a Disease and its Conquest (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc., 1973).

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  38. P., Levine, “Serological Factors as Possible Causes in Spontaneous Abortions,” Journal of Heredity, 34 (1943), pp. 71–80.

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  39. C.A. Clarke, R. Finn, R.B. McConnell, and P.M. Sheppard, “The Protection Afforded by ABO Incompatibility Against Erythroblastosis due to Rhesus Anti-D,” International Archives of Allergy and Applied Immunology, 13 (1958), p. 380.

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  40. Ronald Finn, “Erythroblastosis”, a report of the Symposium on the Role of Inheritance in Common Diseases in Liverpool Medical Institution, February 18, 1960, Lancet, i (1960), p.526.

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  41. Clark,A Biography of the Nuffleld Foundation, p. 187.

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  42. Clark, A Biography of the Nuffleld Foundation, p. 187.

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  43. Minutes, 130th Meeting (October 4,1963) of the trustees in Minutes of the Meetings of the Trustees (and Annexed Papers), 1963-4 (London: Nuffield Foundation, 1964). In 1969, a supplementary award of £39,200 was made.

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  44. For biographical information, see Helen Dodsworth, “Dame Janet Vaughan (1899-1993)” in Lynn Bindman, Alison Brading, an Tilli Tansey, eds., Women Physiologists (London: Portland Press, 1993), pp. 31–36.

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  45. John McAnuff, interview, July 25, 1991.

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  46. Ford papers, Bodleian: Ms Eng., c. 2656, F.21. E.B. Ford, letters to C.A. Clarke, May 11, 1977 and May 14, 1977.

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  47. Janet Vaughan, letter to L. Farrer-Brown, February 19, 1963, Med/91, Q5/2/1,Nuffield Foundation, London (hereafter referred to as NF).

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  48. E. B. Letter to L. Farrer-Brown, April 8, 1963, Med/91, Q5/2/1 (NF).

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  49. See E.B. Ford, Letter to L. Farrer-Brown, May 27, 1963; and C.A. Clarke, letter to J. McAnuff, September 11, 1963, Med/91, Q5/2/1 (NF).

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  50. W.H.F. Barnes, Letter to B. Young, March 30, 1965, Med/91, Q5/2/1 (NF).

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  51. Ford, “Polymorphism”, p. 85.

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  52. C.A. Clarke, “Prevention of Rh-Haemolytic Disease,” British Medical Journal, 4 (1967), pp. 7–12.

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  53. Ford’s Genetics for Medical Students went into six editions from the 1940s until the 1960s, C.A. Clarke, Genetics for the Clinician (Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1962); C.A. Clarke, Human Genetics and Medicine (London: Arnold, 1st ed., 1970, 3rd ed., 1987).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Science and Technology Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Doris T. Zallen

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Michael Fortun

  2. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Everett Mendelsohn

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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Zallen, D.T. (1999). From Butterflies to Blood. In: Fortun, M., Mendelsohn, E. (eds) The Practices of Human Genetics. Sociology of the Sciences, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4718-7_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4718-7_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5985-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4718-7

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