Ulrich Kutschera

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Ulrich Kutschera, 2010

Ulrich Kutschera (born February 2, 1955 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) is a German evolutionary biologist and physiologist . He is a professor at the Institute for Biology at the University of Kassel and has also been working as a visiting scientist in Palo Alto, California, USA since 2007.

Ulrich Kutschera is a staunch atheist . His engagement against the influence of creationism as well as his later statements and publications, some of which were perceived as defamatory, on the topics of gender studies and same-sex marriage made him known outside of his academic work.

Life

Ulrich Kutschera was born as the son of the painter Alfred Kutschera and his wife Esther (née Geng) in Freiburg im Breisgau. From 1975 to 1981 he studied biology and chemistry at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg . His diploma thesis as well as his first publications in the field of zoology / evolution research were supervised by Günther Osche . In 1985, he was under the direction of Peter Schopfer (Chair Botany, former owner Hans Mohr ) with a plant-physiologically -biophysikalischen dissertation for phytohormone effect doctorate (overall assessment: summa cum laude ). The physiological research results were published in five specialist articles in the peer-reviewed journal Planta , so that in 1986 Kutschera was awarded the Goedecke Research Prize.

From 1985 to 1988 he was a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in the USA, at Stanford University in California (Department of Biological Sciences; Carnegie Institution) and at Michigan State University (MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory) . During the first two years he worked as a US postdoctoral fellow and then as a research associate (with a teaching assignment). From 1988 he was a research assistant at the Botanical Institute of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn. In 1990 he received his habilitation (award of the Venia Legendi by the Math.-Nat. Faculty). In 1992 he was appointed to the C4 professorship for plant physiology ( chair ) at the University of Kassel (with an additional agreement to teach the subject areas of history of biology , philosophy of science and evolution for first-year students). In 1997/98 Kutschera was dean in the biology / chemistry department.

In 2001 he was also given the teaching area of ​​evolutionary biology. In February 2007, following guest lectures in the USA (including Invited Speaker, AAAS Annual Meeting in San Francisco), he was appointed Visiting Professor or Scientist (Carnegie Institution, Stanford, CA). Kutschera was a member of the advisory board of the religion-critical Giordano Bruno Foundation for the Promotion of Evolutionary Humanism from 2004 to 2016 and is the author of numerous textbooks.

Since 2002 Kutschera has been chairman of the working group (AK) evolutionary biology . This association of scientists who research the phylogenesis of organisms at universities or who work in the history of biology and the theory of science was founded in October 2002 with the support of Ernst Mayr at the Biologentag in Potsdam . The association was established as an AK in the old biologists' association (vdbiol), renamed AG evolutionary biology since 2003, and reorganized under the old name from November 2009 in the newly founded association of biology, biosciences and biomedicine in Germany (VBIO). Until 2010 the AK was listed as a "working committee"; In 2011 the association was continued under the heading "Science & Society / Topic: Evolution in the VBiO". According to the VBIO, there have been no joint activities between the VBIO and the AK Evolutionary Biology since 2009. The cooperation was also formally terminated in 2017. The AK Evolution Biology has been working with the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science (RDF-Germany) since April 2015 . Kutschera works as a scientific advisor for the Richard Dawkins Foundation. In 2018, Kutschera became a member of the board of trustees of the AfD-affiliated Desiderius Erasmus Foundation .

Act

The physiology and evolution of various organisms, i.e. H. Segmented worms ( annelids ), vertebrates (z. B. mudskippers ), plants, bacteria and myxomycetes are at the center of his interests. Kutschera works in the field of symbiosis research with epiphytic bacteria as phytosymbionts . Special topics in this area are, for example, the co-evolution of the bacterium-plant system or the regulation of growth via prokaryotic epiphytes ( methylobacteria ). The biophysics of the plant cell growth and the proteome - analysis with respect to various plant hormones and the function of the polymers in the turgorgetriebenen primary wall extension put a further focus is, wherein in addition to developing the metabolic physiology (eg. Photosynthesis , Metabolic Scaling) (Cooperation UK with Zhi-Yong Wang, Joseph A. Berry and Winslow. R. Briggs in Stanford, CA, USA, since 2007).

Freiburg Bächle leeches ( Trocheta intermedia Kutschera , 2010) with cocoons

Kutschera researched the phylogenesis of multicellular algae and plants as well as the evolution, systematics and behavior of the annelids. Molecular phylogenetics and DNA barcoding are important areas of specialization in his work, particularly in the class of leeches (Hirudinea) . In addition to phylogenetic analysis, he also carried out numerous ecological studies in this context, for example on the prey behavior of the leeches and is the discoverer and first describer of several species, including the European flat leech ( Helobdella europaea ), the Freiburg brook leech ( Trocheta intermedia ) and the im Golden Gate Park in San Francisco he discovered Egel's Helobdella californica .

At a higher level, Kutschera deals with the theory of science and evolution, for example with the development of the theory of biological evolution for extended synthesis and the establishment of evolutionary plant physiology as a scientific discipline (cooperation UK with Karl J. Niklas , Cornell University, NY, USA, since 2003 ). Furthermore, the evolutionary biology has been defined as a theory system of Kutschera and Synade model of the macro-evolution formulated - "Synade" is a coined word by Kutschera art for Sy mbiogenese , na ral selection and d ynamic E rde. In 2013, Kutschera was made a Corresponding Member of the Botanical Society of America (BSA) in recognition of his “outstanding contributions to plant science”. In 2014 he became a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (FLS). In the same year Kutschera was a lecturer / scientific project planner at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (IPP-CAAS), Beijing , China. Since 2009 he has also been working regularly as a visiting scientist at the University of California, Berkeley (Labor DA Weisblat). From 2015 he has also been working as a visiting scientist at the Universities of Freiburg (Institute for Biology II) and Jena (Faculty of Biology and Pharmacy, Biology Didactics Working Group).

Since 2015 and 2016, respectively, Kutschera has been a volunteer Scientific Advisor at two US research companies, the Stanford spin-offs I-Cultiver, Inc. (Agriculture, Food, Health) in Livermore and the Systems Biology Group in Palo Alto, CA (USA), active.

Commitment to creationism

Kutschera committed publicly against creationism , which he among others in the activities of evangelical Studiengemeinschaft Word and Knowledge (Sg W + W) and they support denominational schools looks and criticized. He tried to campaign against government funding. For him, the natural sciences are “atheistic by definition”.

The science journalist Manuela Lenzen points out in the FAZ that Kutschera's constant fight against the creationists gives his texts some punch lines, but has an "unpleasantly aggressive undertone".

Criticism, scientism and biologism accusation

Real and "Verbal Studies"

Kutschera differentiates real sciences from “verbal sciences” and refers to the model of the Anglo-Saxon differentiation between sciences and humanities . In 2008 he summed up the relationship between the humanities and biology in his laboratory notebook :

"Nothing in the humanities makes sense except in the light of biology."

- Ulrich Kutschera

The saying alludes to Theodosius Dobzhansky's saying: “Nothing in biology makes sense except when viewed in the light of evolution.” With his striving for a “unity of knowledge” on the basis of biology, Kutschera , according to Alexander Kissler , is looking at “recognizably alien things [Research] field ”. Kissler describes Kutschera's juxtaposition “methodical naturalism and mindless evolutionary research”, which he published in 2004 in the atheistic magazine materials and information at the time (MIZ), as Kutschera's “autobiographical confession”, which puts “the spirit under general suspicion”. Kutschera's positions on epistemological issues are assigned to scientism .

"Darwinian Feminism"

In 2014, Kutschera dealt in various publications (including on the Correspondence page of Nature ) with the positions of so-called “Darwinian feminism”, which he sees as misinterpretations of evolutionary biological findings. The dispute was triggered by discussions with US representatives of "Darwinian Feminism". The examination of these positions in connection with Kutschera's leech / hermaphrodite sex studies led to his increasing interest in sociological gender research.

"Critique of Genderism"

Since 2015, Kutschera has attracted media attention with public criticism of gender research . In a report on the AAAS Congress in San Jose, California, where Kutschera appeared as an invited speaker, in April 2015 he related “Genderism in Europe” to (American) creationism . The article published in the Humanist Press Service (hpd) was editorially withdrawn after one day. The FAZ called this a form of censorship. Thereupon Kutschera published his contribution in the internet forum medrum.

In a portrait contribution by Alexander Kissler published in Cicero , Kutschera summarized his position on “gender ideology”. In February 2016 Kutschera published the book Das Gender-Paradoxon , in which he presents his criticism of the "gender ideology". Alongside the US philosopher Judith Butler, the focus of his criticism is the US psychologist John Money (1921–2006), on whose ideas gender mainstreaming is based and who through his experiment with a pair of twins, in which one of the two boys has the outer Sex organs were surgically altered and both of which later took their own lives passed over corpses. He justified his exaggerated choice of words with: "Otherwise my arguments will be ignored by the gender believers!"

In April 2016, Kutschera's stance on gender research meant that a planned lecture at the Philipps University of Marburg on the fundamentals of evolutionary biology for the "Studium generale" series of events did not materialize. At the instigation of the university’s women's representative, the university’s president had spoken out in favor of Kutscheras being discharged. According to Kutschera himself, he refused the unloading because he had learned in advance that student representatives intended to disrupt the event. The Faculty Council of the Marburg Student Union for Biology criticized the justification for the recruitment recommendation and expressed its concern that the University of Marburg “has come under public suspicion of censoring critical positions”.

In September 2016, Kutschera summed up his position outlined in the "Gender Paradox" and drew the conclusion: "A human science without a biological basis is nonsense."

Criminal trial

In July 2017, Ulrich Kutschera spoke out against same-sex marriage in an interview with the Catholic Internet portal kath.net and said among other things: "Should the adoption right for man-man or woman-woman erotic associations come, I see state-sponsored pedophilia and the most severe Child abuse is coming our way. "He justified this statement as follows:" Why should a 40 year old gay man not z. B. desire the 15-year-old adoptive because there is no direct hereditary relationship to this child? There is no instinctive disgust for inbreeding here. "

Two homosexuals, a doctor from Berlin and a university employee, as well as the then chairman of the AStA , then filed a criminal complaint against Kutschera. The public prosecutor's office in Kassel subsequently started investigations against Kutschera. The AStA of the University of Kassel accused him of homophobic views in a statement. The Hessian Science Minister Boris Rhein called Kutschera's theses "abstruse". The university management referred to the freedom of science, but at the same time distanced itself from Kutschera's statements.

On June 5, 2019, the public prosecutor brought charges against Kutschera before the Kassel District Court of incitement to hatred in the act of offense and defamation, as well as of driver fleeing . After Kutschera's defense attorney had submitted 14 requests for evidence, the proceedings were initially suspended due to scheduling problems. On August 3, 2020, Kutschera was found guilty of insulting homosexuals by the local court, acquitted of the remaining allegations and sentenced to a fine of 60 daily rates of 100 €, i.e. a total of 6000 €. He appealed against this judgment, which was not legally binding, and the criminal case goes to the next instance. Kutschera had previously described the proceedings as a "precedent for the abolition of freedom of science and freedom of expression in this country" and announced that the case would be brought before the Federal Constitutional Court if necessary .

Publications

Technical article

Selection of approx. 320 scientific publications as of July 2020

  • Plant-associated methylobacteria as co-evolved phytosymbionts. A hypothesis. In: Plant Signaling & Behavior , Volume 2, No. 2, 2007, pp. 74-78, doi: 10.4161 / psb.2.2.4073 .
  • From Darwinism to evolutionary biology. In: Science , Volume 321, No. 5893, 2008, pp. 1157-1158, doi: 10.1126 / science.321.5893.1157 .
  • Symbiogenesis, natural selection, and the dynamic earth. In: Theory in Biosciences , Volume 128, No. 3, 2009, pp. 191-203, doi: 10.1007 / s12064-009-0065-0 .
  • with Karl J. Niklas : The evolution of the land plant life cycle. In: New Phytologist , Volume 185, No. 1, 2010, pp. 27-41, doi: 10.1111 / j.1469-8137.2009.03054.x .
  • From the scale naturae to the symbiogenetic and dynamic tree of life. In: Biology Direct , 6, 33, 2011, pp. 1-20, doi: 10.1186 / 1745-6150-6-33 .
  • with Zhi-Yong Wang: Brassinosteroid action in flowering plants: a Darwinian perspective. In: Journal of Experimental Botany , Volume 63, No. 10, 2012, pp. 3511-3532, doi: 10.1093 / jxb / ers065 .
  • with Winslow R. Briggs: Phototropic solar tracking in sunflower plants: an integrative perspective. In: Annals of Botany , Volume 117, No. 1, 2016, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.1093 / aob / mcv141 .
  • Systems biology of eukaryotic superorganisms and the holobiont concept. In: Theory in Biosciences , 2018. doi: 10.1007 / s12064-018-0265-6
  • U. Kutschera, R. Pieruschka, S. Farmer, JA Berry: The Warburg-Effects: Basic metabolic processes with reference to cancer development and global photosynthesis. In: Plant Signaling & Behavior , Volume 15, 2020, No. 7.doi: 10.1080 / 15592324.2020.1776477

Reference books

  • Short textbook of plant physiology. Quelle & Meyer Verlag, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-8252-1861-9 .
  • Basic internship in plant physiology. Quelle & Meyer Verlag, Wiesbaden 1998, ISBN 3-8252-2026-5 .
  • Evolutionary biology. A general introduction. Parey Buchverlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-8001-4567-7 , ISBN 3-8263-3348-9 .
  • Principles of Plant Physiology. 2nd Edition. Spektrum Verlag, Heidelberg 2002, ISBN 3-8274-1121-1 .
  • Contention point evolution. Darwinism and Intelligent Design. Lit-Verlag, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8258-7286-6 . (2nd edition 2007)
  • Creationism in Germany. Facts and analysis . LIT, Berlin / Münster 2007, ISBN 978-3-8258-9684-3 .
  • Evolutionary biology. 3. Edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8252-8318-6 .
  • Fact evolution. What Darwin couldn't know. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-423-24707-8 . (2nd edition 2010)
  • Darwiniana Nova. Hidden art forms of nature. Lit-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-643-10378-9 .
  • Design flaw in nature. Alfred Russel Wallace and Godless Evolution. Lit-Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-643-12133-2 .
  • Evolutionary biology. Origin and evolution of the organisms. 4th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-8252-8623-1 .
  • Plant Physiology. Sensitive plants in action. LIT Verlag, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-643-14226-9 .

Non-fiction

As co-editor

Kutschera is Associated Editor or Editorial Board member of the following international journals: Theory in Biosciences , Evolution, Education & Outreach , Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology , Journal of Applied Botany , Lauterbornia , Plant Signaling & Behavior and Journal of Marine Science: Research & Development .

Web links

Wikiquote: Ulrich Kutschera  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Homepage Ulrich Kutschera. Institute for Biology at the University of Kassel; accessed on July 6, 2018
  2. ↑ researchgate.net accessed on July 16, 2020
  3. ^ "The Systems Biology Group is a Palo Alto based research institution ..."
  4. ↑ Evolutionary biologist argues against “marriage for all” in pro-medienmagazin.de
  5. ↑ Ulrich Kutschera: Negotiations on the history and theory of biology . Volume 16. (PDF) VWB, Berlin 2010, pp. 257-263
  6. ↑ Darwin's theory of evolution under discussion . ( Memento from December 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Association of Biology, Biosciences and Biomedicine in Germany V. - VBIO, accessed on June 24, 2015.
    Ulrich Kutschera, Uwe Hoßfeld: Ten Years Working Group (AK) Evolutionary Biology in the German Association of Biologists . ( Memento of February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ; PDF; 517 kB) Rudolstädter Naturhistorische Schriften 18 (December 2012), pp. 19–26.
  7. ↑ VBIO announces cooperation with the Evolutionary Biology Working Group Communication from VBIO, July 17, 2017; accessed on August 9, 2018
  8. ↑ Richard Dawkins Foundation cooperates with the AK Evolutionary Biology . Richard Dawkins Foundation website, June 3, 2015, accessed July 19, 2015.
  9. ↑ Hannah Knuth: Right device. Time online , July 11, 2018
  10. ↑ U. Kutschera: Description of a new species of leech, Helobdella striata nov. sp. (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae) . In: Zoological Yearbooks / Department for Systematics, Geography and Biology of Animals, 112, 1985, pp. 469–476; Full text (PDF)
  11. ↑ U. Kutschera: A new leech species from Southern Germany, Trocheta intermedia nov. sp. (Hirudinea: Erpobdellidae) . In: Lauterbornia , 70, 2010; Pp. 1-9; Full text (PDF)
  12. ↑ U. Kutschera: The Freiburg Bächle leech and the alpha taxonomy. ] In: Biology in our time , 40 (6), 2010, pp. 374-375. doi: 10.1002 / biuz.201090093 ; Full text (PDF)
  13. ↑ U. Kutschera: A new leech species from North America, Helobdella californica nov. sp. (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae). Zoologischer Anzeiger 220, 1988, pp. 173-178; Full text (PDF)
  14. ↑ a b U. Kutschera: The Golden Gate Leech Helobdella californica (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae): occurrence and DNA-based taxonomy of a species restricted to San Francisco. International Review of Hydrobiology 96 (3), 2011, pp. 286-295; Full text (PDF).
  15. ↑ U. Kutschera: fact evolution. dtv, 2009, p. 307 and U. Kutschera: Symbiogenesis, natural selection, and the dynamic Earth. In: Theory Biosci. 128 (2009), pp. 191-203.
  16. ↑ Corresponding Memberso the BSA
  17. ↑ Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science ( Memento from December 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ Biology Didactics Working Group: Staff. Friedrich Schiller University Jena , Faculty of Biology and Pharmacy, accessed on June 16, 2016 .
  19. ↑ in an interview with the Humanist Press Service of the Giordano Bruno Foundation : Creationist hocus-pocus .
  20. ↑ C. Koch: Creationism: "The Creator is a Beetle Maker" ( Memento from August 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). Stern , April 2, 2007.
  21. ↑ From paleopower to the meaning of life. In: FAZ.net . February 18, 2009, accessed October 13, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Exchange of blows: 'verbal' versus 'real'. In: Laborjournal online , August 19, 2008.
  23. ^ Nothing in Biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution . In: The American Biology Teacher , Vol. 35, 1973, pp. 125-129.
  24. ↑ a b c A. Kissler: Geisteswissenschaften: attack on the "verbal scientist" . In: sueddeutsche.de . 2010 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on November 16, 2015]).
  25. ↑ U. Kutschera: Methodical naturalism and mindless evolutionary research. (No longer available online.) In: miz-online.de, MIZ 3/04. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015 ; accessed on November 17, 2015 .
  26. ^ U. Kutschera: Alfred Russel Wallace: An early champion of women's rights . In: Nature . Vol. 510, No. 7504 , June 12, 2014, ISSN  0028-0836 , p. 218 , doi : 10.1038 / 510218a ( uni-kassel.de [PDF; 550 kB ; accessed on December 31, 2015]).
  27. ^ U. Kutschera: From Aquatic Biology to Weismannism: Science versus Ideology . In: Journal of Marine Science: Research & Development . Vol. 4, No. December 3 , 2014, ISSN  2155-9910 , doi : 10.4172 / 2155-9910.1000e131 .
  28. ↑ A. Himmelrath : Professor against gender research: "Young, attractive, must be able to cook well". , Spiegel Online, accessed November 24, 2015.
  29. ↑ M. Klonovski: “Gender is nonsense!” . Focus Online, accessed November 24, 2015.
  30. ↑ Gender Mainstreaming: "Nonsense, Religion, Feminist Sect." (No longer available online.) In: www.inforadio.de. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; accessed on November 16, 2015 .
  31. ↑ HP Klein: Gender Studies Heroic sperm and egg cells kissed awake . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . May 30, 2015, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed November 16, 2015]).
  32. ^ Ulrich Kutschera: University pseudoscience. Genderism - a proliferation of anti-scientific aberrations. In: medrum.de. June 23, 2015, accessed on June 7, 2018 (only available via archive.org. Slightly expanded and slightly revised version of the article that was published on April 13, 2015 on hpd.de).
  33. ↑ Alexander Kissler: On the barricades . In: Cicero: magazine for political culture . No. 8 , August 2015, ISSN  1613-4826 , p. 118–119 ( evolutionsbiologen.de [PDF; 3.6 MB ; accessed on December 31, 2015]).
  34. ↑ Hubert Rehm: Dangerous Ideology? This book is sure to provoke controversy: The “woman-equal-man heresy” disfigures the meaning of key terms such as sex and gender, criticizes the evolutionary biologist Ulrich Kutschera . Spektrum.de, June 24, 2016.
  35. ↑ Biologist Ulrich Kutschera: "What chance do we poor men still have ..." . May 21, 2016. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018.
  36. ↑ idea online from March 24, 2016 , accessed on March 26, 2016
  37. ↑ Article references: Ulrich Kutschera and the University of Marburg - Gender Discourse. In: Gender Discourse. Retrieved March 31, 2016 .
  38. ^ Rejection of the lecture by evolutionary biologist Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kutschera. Opinion of the Department Council Biology. (No longer available online.) Philipps University of Marburg , Department 17 Biology, April 14, 2016, archived from the original on May 27, 2016 ; accessed on June 16, 2016 .
  39. ↑ BZ-Ten questions about the future of the sexes
  40. ↑ a b Trial for sedition: Professor wants to prove controversial statements about homosexuals . ( faz.net [accessed June 5, 2019]).
  41. ↑ Marriage for All? 'This absurd decision doesn't surprise me'. Kath.net, July 5, 2017, accessed August 3, 2020 .
  42. ↑ a b Kutschera sentenced to a fine. Queer.de, August 3, 2020, accessed on August 3, 2020 .
  43. ↑ a b Katja Rudolph: Trial against Kassel university professor failed for the time being. Hessische / Niedersächsische Allgemeine, June 6, 2019, accessed on August 3, 2020 .
  44. ^ A b Katja Rudolph: Kassel university professor in court: muzzle of the defense attorney. Hessische / Niedersächsische Allgemeine, July 7, 2019, accessed on August 3, 2020 .
  45. ↑ Sebastian Gubernator: "Pitiable, hateful person" - protests against professor . Welt Online , July 20, 2017.
  46. ↑ Ulrike Pflüger-Scherb: University professor from Kassel for incitement to hatred in court - Kutschera continues to provoke. Hessische / Niedersächsische Allgemeine, July 22, 2020, accessed on August 3, 2020 .
  47. ↑ Biology professor convicted of insulting statements about homosexuals. Die Welt, August 3, 2020, accessed on August 3, 2020 .
  48. ↑ Christoph Schmidt-Lunau: Fine for evolutionary biologists . In: taz.de . August 4, 2020, accessed August 15, 2020.
  49. ↑ Code of Criminal Procedure §316 inhibition of res judicata
  50. ↑ Hessenschau appointment
  51. ↑ [ https://www.idea.de/gesellschaft/detail/beleidigung-homosexueller-evolutionsbiologe-kutschera- geht-in-revision-113783.html idea appointment]
personal data
SURNAME Kutschera, Ulrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German biologist, plant physiologist
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd February 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiburg in Breisgau