Francisco J. Ayala

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Francisco J. Ayala 2011

Francisco José Ayala (born March 12, 1934 in Madrid , Spain ) is an American geneticist, evolutionary biologist and philosopher. He is Professor of Biology and Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine .

Life

Francisco José Ayala studied at the University of Madrid, where he obtained his BS degree in 1955. He worked on Drosophila , which reproduces so quickly that it became the ideal object of study for evolutionary geneticists. Ayala also studied theology and was ordained a priest in 1960. In 1960 he met Theodosius Dobzhansky . He went to the United States in 1961 and received his MA in 1963 and Ph.D. in 1964. at Columbia University in New York. He first worked at Rockefeller University in New York. In 1971 he became a US citizen.

He moved to California with his wife, Hana, and children. There he took a professorship in the Department of Genetics at the University of California, Davis in 1971 . His former teacher Theodosius Dobzhansky also moved to Davis. This is where the books 'Evolving', 'Molecular Evolution' and 'Modern Genetics' were created. In 1981 he was the main witness at court hearings (McLean vs. Arkansas Board of Education) in Arkansas, where it was about the position of religion and evolution in the classroom ( creationism - evolution theory ). In 1987 he moved to the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine , where he was also offered a professorship in the Department of Philosophy. Here he was able to combine his interests in religion, metaphysics and philosophy with his scientific research. Here he also researched Trypanosoma cruzi , the causative agent of Chagas disease .

His main research interests are:

  • Investigation of DNA and protein sequences to determine the history and timing of evolution ( molecular clock )
  • Investigation of the population structure and evolution of parasitic protozoa, such as the causative agents of malaria and Chagas disease
  • Investigation of gene regulation , evolution of pseudogenes , origin and evolution of introns
  • philosophical reflections on science (biology), ethics and religion.

Ayala has been a member of President Clinton's Scientific Advisory Committee since 1992 . In 1995 he was President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). From 1994 to 2001 he was on the American President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology . He is the author of more than 700 articles and 15 books.

Ayala is regarded as a critic of the religious-fundamentalist-motivated intelligent design movement. This idea, called theory by its proponents, is full of errors. Instead, the structure of organisms is not what would be expected of an intelligent designer, but rather imperfect and worse. Defects, glitches, oddities, waste and cruelty would pervade the world of life. All of this can best be explained in terms of biological evolution . In 2010 Ayala received the Templeton Prize .

Honors

Honorary doctorates
  • 1991: University of Athens (Greece)
  • 2000: Bologna (Italy)
  • Barcelona (1986), Balearic Islands (1997), León (1982), Madrid (1986), Valencia (1999) and Vigo (1996) (Spain)
  • Vladivostok (“Far East National University”), Russia
  • Masaryk University (Brno, Czech Republic)
  • Ohio State University (2010)
member

Publications

  • Studies in the Philosophy of Biology (1974)
  • Molecular Evolution (1976)
  • Evolution (1977)
  • Evolving: The Theory and Processes of Organic Evolution (1979)
  • Population and Evolutionary Genetics: A Primer (1982).
  • Modern Genetics (second edition, 1984)
  • Tempo and Mode in Evolution (1995)
  • Genetics and The Origin of Species (1997)
  • Variation and Evolution in Plants and Microorganisms (2000)
  • The big questions: Evolution (2012), German: the big questions: Evolution (2013)

Web links

Commons : Francisco J. Ayala  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7920205.stm
personal data
SURNAME Ayala, Francisco J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ayala, Francisco José (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hispanic-American biologist, geneticist, evolutionary biologist
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Madrid