Monday, December 12, 2011

More from Morris Goodman - "founder of molecular anthropology"

I posted an article earlier which credits Morris Goodman as being the founder of the field of molecular anthropology. This article shows that, while he may have founded the field, he was not always correct in his conclusions. For example, this article sites a study of his which used immunological tests to demonstrate the close relationships between chimpanzees, humans, and gorillas. In this study from the 1960s, he posited that chimps and gorillas should join humans in the class Hominidae, which challenged established taxonomies. As technology improved, Goodman was able to look at protein and DNA sequence data, which provided more accurate information regarding genetic diversity. Still, this article shows that he continued to defy the established order despite the increased availability of more precise data late into his career.

Waiting for Sequences: Morris Goodman, Immunodiffusion
Experiments, and the Origins of Molecular Anthropology


http://www.springerlink.com/content/63225757rq755921/fulltext.pdf

No comments:

Post a Comment