Henry Bernard Davis Kettlewell (24 February 1907 - 1979) was a British geneticist, lepidopterist and medical doctor, who carried out important research into the influence of industrial melanism on natural selection in moths, showing why moths are darker in polluted areas. Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A geneticist is a scientist who studies Genetics, the science of Heredity and variation of Organisms A geneticist can be employed as a researcher A lepidopterist is a person who catches and collects studies or simply observes (see Butterfly watching) lepidopterans, members of an order encompassing A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health Melanism μέλας is an increased amount of black or nearly black Pigmentation (as of Skin, Feathers or Hair) of an organism resulting from
Early life
Kettlewell was born in Howden, Yorkshire, was educated at Charterhouse School, and from 1926 studied medicine with zoology at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Howden is a small Market town and Civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. Charterhouse, originally Sutton's Hospital in Charterhouse, is a prominent boys independent or public school as they're known in Britain between Zoology (from Greek ζῷον, zoon, "animal" + λόγος, " Logos " "knowledge" is the branch of Gonville and Caius College Cambridge is a constituent College of Cambridge University, one of the world's most academically respected institutions In 1929 he began clinical training at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, then in 1935 joined a general medical practice in Cranleigh, Surrey. St Bartholomew's Hospital, also known as Barts, is a hospital in Smithfield in the City of London, England. Cranleigh is a large village proclaimed the largest in England, and is situated 8 miles south east of Godalming in Surrey. Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. He also worked as an anesthetist at St. Luke's Hospital, Guildford. Guildford ( IPA /ˈgɪlfəd/ is the County town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the During World War II, from 1939 to 1945, he worked for the Emergency Medical Service at Woking War Hospital. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Emergency medical services (abbreviated to the initialism "EMS" in many countries are a branch of Emergency services dedicated to providing out-of-hospital [1]
He emigrated to South Africa in 1949, and from then until 1954 was a researcher at the International Locust Control Centre at Cape Town University, investigating methods of locust control and going on expeditions to the Kalahari, the Knysna Forest, the Belgian Congo and Mozambique. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The University of Cape Town ( UCT) is a Public university located on the Rhodes Estate on the slopes of Devil's Peak, in Cape Town The Knysna-Amatole montane forests is a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of South Africa. The Belgian Congo ( Dutch: Belgisch Kongo French: Congo Belge German: Belgisch Kongo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa [1]
In 1952 he was appointed to a Nuffield Research Fellowship in the Department of Genetics of the Department of Zoology at Oxford University. The Nuffield Foundation is a British Charitable trust, established in 1943 by William Morris (Lord Nuffield the founder of the Morris The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the Until 1954 he divided his time between South Africa and Oxford, then he gained the position of Senior Research Officer in the Department of Genetics and spent the rest of his career in Oxford as a genetics researcher. Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, [1] His supervisor was E. B. Ford. Professor Edmund Brisco "Henry" Ford FRS, Hon FRCP ( 23rd April 1901- 2nd January 1988 was a British ecological [2]
Peppered moth investigation and experiments
His grant was to study industrial melanism in general, and in particular the peppered moth Biston betularia which had been studied by William Bateson in the 1890s. Melanism μέλας is an increased amount of black or nearly black Pigmentation (as of Skin, Feathers or Hair) of an organism resulting from The peppered moth ( Biston betularia) is a temperate species of night-flying Moth. William Bateson ( Robin Hood's Bay, August 8 1861 &ndash February 8 1926 was a British Geneticist, a Fellow of St Kettlewell's research from three surveys between 1952 and 1972 appeared to show a static pattern with a high frequency of the dark-coloured carbonaria phenotype in industrial regions, and the light coloured typica moths becoming the most common in more rural areas. A phenotype is any observable characteristic of an Organism, such as its morphology, Development, biochemical or physiological properties In the first of Kettlewell's experiments moths were released into an aviary to observe how insectivorous birds reacted. In Great Britain during the late 1840s through the 1850s it was noticed that there was a reduced number of light colored European Peppered moths ( Biston betularia) He showed that the birds ate the moths, and found that where the camouflage of the moths made them difficult for him to see against a matching background, the birds too had difficulty in finding the moths. [3] Most famously he then carried out experiments involving releasing then recapturing marked moths in polluted woodlands in Birmingham, and in unpolluted rural woods at Deanend Wood, Dorset, England. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um Dorset ( (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland [4] He demonstrated experimentally the efficiency of natural selection as an evolutionary force: light-coloured moths are more conspicuous than dark-coloured ones in industrial areas, where the vegetation is darkened by pollution, and are therefore easier prey for birds, but are less conspicuous in unpolluted rural areas, where the vegetation is lighter in colour, and therefore survive predation better. His experiment led to better understanding of industrial melanism and its effects on the evolution of species.
In 1979 Kettlewell died from an accidental drug overdose. [1]
References
- ^ a b c d Biographical Data on Henry Bernard Davis Kettlewell - Wolfson College. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde.
- ^ Hooper, Judith 2002. Of moths and men. Claims Kettlwell's work was fraudulent and/or incompetent.
- ^ Prof. Laurence Cook (February 2003). The Peppered Moth. The Melanic Peppered Moth, Seminar to Post Grad Students. Manchester Metropolitan University. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde.
- ^ The theory of natural selection (part 1). Blackwell Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-07-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1191 - Saladin 's garrison surrenders ending the two-year Siege of Acre.
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic