"The Logic of Monsters:" Pere Alberch and the Evolutionary Significance of Experimental Teratology.

IF 0.7 1区 哲学 Q4 BIOLOGY
Journal of the History of Biology Pub Date : 2024-09-01 Epub Date: 2024-08-30 DOI:10.1007/s10739-024-09783-7
Juanma Sánchez Arteaga
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Abstract

This paper offers an historical introduction to Pere Alberch's evolutionary thought and his contributions to Evo-Devo, based on his unique approach to experimental teratology. We will take as our point of reference the teratogenic experiments developed by Alberch and Emily A. Gale during the 1980s, aimed at producing monstrous variants of frogs and salamanders. We will analyze his interpretation of the results of these experiments within the framework of the emergence of evolutionary developmental biology (or "Evo-Devo"). The aim is understand how Alberch interpreted teratological anomalies as highly revealing objects of study for understanding the development of organic form, not only in an ontogenetic sense-throughout embryonic development-but also phylogenetically-throughout the evolution of species. Alberch's interpretation of monsters reflects the influence of a long tradition of non-Darwinian evolutionary thought, which began in the nineteenth century and was continued in the twentieth century by people such as Richard Goldschmidt, Conrad H. Waddington, and Stephen Jay Gould. They all proposed various non-gradualist models of evolution, in which embryonic development played a central role. Following this tradition, Alberch argued that, in order to attain a correct understanding of the role of embryological development in evolution, it was necessary to renounce the gradualist paradigm associated with the Darwinian interpretation of evolution, which understood nature as a continuum. According to Alberch, the study of monstrous abnormalities was of great value in understanding how certain epigenetic restrictions in development could give rise to discontinuities and directionality in morphological transformations throughout evolution.

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"怪物的逻辑:"佩雷-阿尔贝奇和实验畸胎学的进化意义。
本文基于佩雷-阿尔贝奇独特的实验致畸学方法,从历史角度介绍了他的进化思想及其对进化论的贡献。我们将以阿尔伯奇和艾米莉-A-盖尔(Emily A. Gale)在 20 世纪 80 年代开发的致畸实验为参照,旨在制造青蛙和蝾螈的畸形变种。我们将在进化发育生物学(或称 "Evo-Devo")兴起的框架内分析他对这些实验结果的解释。我们的目的是要了解阿尔伯奇是如何将畸形异常解释为极具启发性的研究对象,从而理解有机体的发展,不仅是在本体论意义上--整个胚胎发育过程中,而且是在系统论意义上--整个物种进化过程中。阿尔伯奇对怪兽的解释反映了非达尔文进化论思想悠久传统的影响,这一传统始于 19 世纪,在 20 世纪由理查德-戈德施密特、康拉德-H-瓦丁顿和斯蒂芬-杰-古尔德等人延续了下来。他们都提出了各种非渐进主义的进化模式,其中胚胎发育起着核心作用。秉承这一传统,阿尔伯奇认为,为了正确理解胚胎发育在进化中的作用,有必要放弃与达尔文进化论相关的渐进主义范式,因为达尔文进化论将自然界理解为一个连续体。阿尔伯奇认为,畸形异常的研究对于理解发育过程中的某些表观遗传限制如何导致整个进化过程中形态转变的不连续性和方向性具有重要价值。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Journal of the History of Biology
Journal of the History of Biology 生物-科学史与科学哲学
CiteScore
1.40
自引率
12.50%
发文量
29
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: The Journal of the History of Biology is devoted to the history of the life sciences, with additional interest and concern in philosophical and social issues confronting biology in its varying historical contexts. While all historical epochs are welcome, particular attention has been paid in recent years to developments during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. JHB is a recognized forum for scholarship on Darwin, but pieces that connect Darwinism with broader social and intellectual issues in the life sciences are especially encouraged. The journal serves both the working biologist who needs a full understanding of the historical and philosophical bases of the field and the historian of biology interested in following developments and making historiographical connections with the history of science.
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