John F. Doebley is an American botanical

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processe ...

whose main area of interest is how

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

s drive

plant development Important structures in plant development are buds, shoots, roots, leaves, and flowers; plants produce these tissues and structures throughout their life from meristems located at the tips of organs, or between mature tissues. Thus, a living plant a ...

and

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

. He has spent the last two decades examining the genetic differences and similarities between

teosinte ''Zea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the grass family. The best-known species is ''Z. mays'' (variously called maize, corn, or Indian corn), one of the most important crops for human societies throughout much of the world. The four wild sp ...

and

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

and has cloned the major genes that cause the visible differences between these two very different plants. He was part of the team that is credited with first finding, back in 2002, that maize had been domesticated only once, about 9000 years ago, and then spread throughout the Americas. John Doebley began his undergraduate education as a

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

major at

West Chester State College West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...

(now West Chester University) in West Chester,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. However, after taking a class by a particularly interesting lecturer, he decided to switch his major to

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

. After he graduated with a degree in anthropology in 1974, he entered a master's programme in anthropology at

Eastern New Mexico University Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU or Eastern) is a public university with a main campus in Portales, New Mexico, and two associate degree-granting branches, one at Ruidoso and one at Roswell. ENMU is New Mexico's largest regional comprehensi ...

in Portales. Upon completion of this degree in 1976, he began a PhD programme at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. Here he worked with

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

professor

Hugh Iltis Hugh Iltis (April 7, 1925 – December 19, 2016) was a professor of botany and director of the herbarium at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. While he is most noted as a scientist for his role in the discovery of perennial teosinte (''Zea d ...

, travelling to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to collect teosinte. Doebley published three papers on this research for his

doctoral thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

and completed his degree in 1980. Doebley then held two

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

positions successively at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

under the mentorship of Major Goodman and Ronald Sederoff, and began a research group at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. In 1987, Doebley took up the position of professor at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, St. Paul, where his group focused on pinpointing and cloning the principal genes involved in the evolution of maize, such as ''teosinte branched1'', which controls branch number, and ''teosinte glume architecture'', which controls the (lack of) casing on kernels. In 1999, Doebley returned to the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a professor. There he has continued his work on teosinte and maize. From 2015 he is serving as the chair of the Laboratory of Genetics, which includes the School of Medicine and Public Health’s Department of Medical Genetics and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Department of Genetics. Doebley’s work has earned him widespread recognition in the field of complex trait genetics, and he was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 2002.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doebley, John Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American geneticists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences West Chester University alumni University of Minnesota faculty