James F. Crow
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James Franklin Crow (January 18, 1916 – January 4, 2012) was Professor Emeritus of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a prominent population geneticist whose career spanned from the modern synthesis to the genomic era. Some of his most significant peer-reviewed contributions were coauthored with Motoo Kimura, including those leading to the neutral theory of molecular evolution. He also wrote an influential introductory textbook on genetics and a more advanced one with Kimura. His graduate and undergraduate students and postdocs includes
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. He was a president of both the
Genetics Society of America The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is a scholarly membership society of more than 5,500 genetics researchers and educators, established in 1931. The Society was formed from the reorganization of the Joint Genetics Sections of the American Soc ...
and the American Society of Human Genetics. He was a member of 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 ...
, The American Philosophical Society, the
World Academy of Art and Science The World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), founded in 1960, is an international non-governmental scientific organization and global network of more than 800 scientists, artists, and scholars in more than 90 countries. It serves as a forum for s ...
, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS).


Biography


Early life and education

Crow was born in 1916 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where his father was a teacher at Ursinus College. The family moved to Wichita, Kansas, two and a half years later, in 1918, where Crow was part of the
1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
. He went to school in Wichita, then to Friends University, at the time a
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
school, also in Wichita, graduating in 1937. At school, he enjoyed physics and chemistry, but pursued chemistry more strongly at university. He picked up biology as well, and double majored in chemistry and biology. A genetics course in his junior year was his first exposure to that field, even though the syllabus omitted the modern synthesis. Delaying the decision of whether to become a biologist or chemist, Crow applied for graduate fellowships in both biology and biochemistry. He took up the first positive reply, a position with
H. J. Muller Hermann Joseph Muller (December 21, 1890 – April 5, 1967) was an American geneticist, educator, and Nobel laureate best known for his work on the physiological and genetic effects of radiation (mutagenesis), as well as his outspoken politica ...
at the University of Texas at Austin, in spite of knowing that Muller was in Russia at the time. It turned out that Muller had no intention of returning to his position in Texas, and so
J. T. Patterson John Thomas Patterson (November 3, 1878 – December 4, 1960) was an American geneticist and professor at the University of Texas. Early life Patterson was born from James and Anna Patterson in a family of 5 children on a farm near Piqua, Ohio ...
became Crow's supervisor there. Under the influence of Muller, Patterson was starting to switch to '' Drosophila'' genetics, having previously worked on the embryology of the
armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...
, and so it was that Crow came to study the genetic isolating mechanisms in the ''Drosophila mulleri'' group. This included a combination of doing mating crosses between species and looking for
chromosome rearrangement In genetics, a chromosomal rearrangement is a mutation that is a type of chromosome abnormality involving a change in the structure of the native chromosome. Such changes may involve several different classes of events, like Deletion (genetics), de ...
s using polytene chromosomes. (Polytene chromosomes are large aggregations of actual chromosomes which, once appropriately stained, facilitate the discovery of chromosome rearrangements through an ordinary
light microscope The optical microscope, also referred to as a light microscope, is a type of microscope that commonly uses visible light and a system of lenses to generate magnified images of small objects. Optical microscopes are the oldest design of microsco ...
. Polytene chromosomes are mostly found in the salivary glands of some species.) In his studies of pre-mating isolation, Crow was one of the first to study genetic reinforcement, and also observed that species occurring together were sexually isolated, while those living apart were not. A great influence on Crow at the time was W.S. Stone, who encouraged him to learn more mathematics, while he himself knew none. Later on, Crow admitted to struggling with some of the advanced maths and physics courses he took as a result, but also said they had been rewarding.


Dartmouth College and the war

Crow graduated with his PhD in 1941 and moved to Dartmouth College just prior to the American entry into World War II, where he remained until 1948. The original plan had been to get a postdoctoral fellowship to work with Sewall Wright at the University of Chicago, but this proved difficult just at the start of the war. His appointment in Dartmouth was to teach genetics and general zoology, but as faculty were drafted off into military endeavors, Crow took on an increasing number of courses. Crow particularly delighted in being able to teach embryology and
comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...
. When it seemed likely that he himself would be drafted, Crow took a course in navigation, at which, owing to his mathematical training, he proved so adept that he was asked to teach it. As
parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it fo ...
became relevant to the war (as it did on the opposing front, where Willi Hennig was active in this area), he was asked to also teach parasitology and haematology. Not long after, he was also teaching
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...
. It may be that, having to teach many hours each day, Crow discovered his love for teaching at this point. He later recounted that there were several students all of whose courses were taught by him. He, like many of his colleagues of the era, had college-time involvement with pacifist groups that had communist leanings. During WWII, he tried to enlist, but was deferred until the end due to his teaching commitments.


Race and IQ controversy

Crow wrote "Genetic Theories and Influences: Comments on the Value of Diversity," an article in the ''Harvard Educational Review'' reprinted in the review's reprint series responding to Arthur Jensen's 1969 article, "How Much Can We Boost IQ and Academic Achievement?"


Paternal age effect The paternal age effect is the statistical relationship between the father's age at conception and biological effects on the child. Such effects can relate to birthweight, congenital disorders, life expectancy and psychological outcomes. A 2017 ...
on DNA

Crow also did research and writing in how DNA in sperm degrades as men age, through repeated copying, and can then be passed along to children in permanently degraded form, which they likely then pass on as well. As a result, he said in 1997 that the "greatest mutational health hazard to the human genome is fertile older males". He described mutations that have a direct visible effect on the child's health and also mutations that can be latent or have minor visible effects on the child's health; many such mutations allow the child to reproduce, but cause more serious problems for grandchildren, great-grandchildren and later generations A 2009 review prematurely concluded that the absolute risk from paternal age for genetic anomalies in offspring was low, and stated that "there is no clear association between adverse health outcome and paternal age but longitudinal studies are needed." However, newer studies supported Crow's claims. A study in 2006 of 132,000 Israeli adolescents discovered men in their 30s are 1.6 times as likely to have a child with autism as men under 30, with men in their 40s having a sixfold increase in risk Further studies in Sweden (2.6 million children), Denmark (2.98 million), and an international dataset of 5.7 million children showed a definite link between increased paternal age and autism risk. A widely-referenced Icelandic whole-genome sequencing effort led by Kári Stefánsson of DEcode Genetics and published in Nature also concluded similarly.


Research

Much of Crow’s research was in the area of theoretical population genetics, but he has often ventured into the laboratory. Over a career that spanned more than 50 years, Crow and his collaborators studied a variety of traits in Drosophila, dissected the genetics of DDT resistance, measured the effects of minor mutations on the overall fitness of populations, described the behavior of mutations that do not play the selection game by Darwin’s rules, and investigated many other subjects. His theoretical work has touched virtually every important subject in population genetics. Crow developed the concept of genetic load, has contributed to the theory of random drift in small populations, has studied the effects of non-random mating and age-structured populations, and has considered the question, “What good is sex?” He also developed ways to estimate inbreeding in human populations by making use of the way in which surnames are “inherited,” and was a world expert on the genetic effects of low level ionizing radiation. In addition to his many research publications, Crow published many reviews and appreciations of the work of his colleagues. His textbook/monograph on population genetics, written with Motoo Kimura, has had a notable impact on its field.


Public service

Crow chaired the Department of Medical Genetics for five years and the Laboratory of Genetics (Genetics plus Medical Genetics) for a total of eight years. He also served as Acting Dean of the UW Medical School for 2 years. He was President of the
Genetics Society of America The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is a scholarly membership society of more than 5,500 genetics researchers and educators, established in 1931. The Society was formed from the reorganization of the Joint Genetics Sections of the American Soc ...
and the American Society of Human Genetics. He was the co-editor-in-chief of the journal '' GENETICS'' and edited its perspectives section from 1987 until 2008. Crow served at the national level as a member of the General Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH and of the executive council of the National Committee on Radiation Protection, chaired the NIH Genetics Study Section and the NIH Mammalian Genetics Study Section, and chaired several committees for the National Academy of Sciences including a committee to study forensic uses of DNA fingerprinting. In addition, Crow played viola for the
Madison Symphony Orchestra The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an orchestra headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Its conductor is John DeMain, who began his 28th season with the orchestra in the fall of 2022. The orchestra was founded in 1925 as a small community ensemb ...
from 1949 to 1994 and served as President of the Madison Civic Music Society and of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He led a fund-raising drive to establish an endowment for the Pro Arte String Quartet. Crow was a member of 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 ...
, the National Academy of Medicine, The American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the
World Academy of Art and Science The World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), founded in 1960, is an international non-governmental scientific organization and global network of more than 800 scientists, artists, and scholars in more than 90 countries. It serves as a forum for s ...
. He was an honorary Fellow of the Japan Academy and a Fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. He died of congestive heart failure in 2012.


Personal life

Crow was married to Ann Crockett. They are survived by a son, the computer scientist
Franklin C. Crow Franklin C. (Frank) Crow is a computer scientist who has made important contributions to computer graphics, including some of the first practical spatial anti-aliasing techniques. Crow also proposed the shadow volume technique for generating geom ...
; two daughters, Laura and Catherine; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was an atheist and an opponent of the intelligent design movement.


Death

James F. Crow died on January 4, 2012, at age 95 from congestive heart failure at his home in Madison, Wisconsin.


Selected publications

* * * * * * * * * * * *Crow, J.F. 2006. Motoo Kimura, 1924-1994. Handbook of Philosophy of Biology. *Crow, J.F. 2006. Sewall Wright, 1889-1988. Handbook of Philosophy of Biology. * * * *Crow, J.F. 2004. Assessing population subdivision. In Evolutionary Theory and Processes: Modern Horizons. Ed. by S.P. Wasser. pp. 35–42. Kluwer Academic Publishers. * * *Crow, J. F. 2002. Unequal by nature: a geneticist’s perspective on human differences. Dedalus Winter 2002:81-88. *Crow, J.F.; Motoo Kimura. (1970). ''An introduction to population genetics theory'' ( eprinted.). New Jersey: Blackburn Press. . * * * *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crow, James 1916 births 2012 deaths People from Collegeville, Pennsylvania American atheists American geneticists Population geneticists Foreign Members of the Royal Society Friends University alumni University of Texas at Austin alumni Dartmouth College alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the American Philosophical Society Genetics (journal) editors Members of the National Academy of Medicine