Skip to main content
Log in

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

  • Published:
Journal of the History of Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

During the early 1960s, Morris Goodman used a variety of immunological tests to demonstrate the very close genetic relationships among humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas. Molecular anthropologists often point to this early research as a critical step in establishing their new specialty. Based on his molecular results, Goodman challenged the widely accepted taxonomic classification that separated humans from chimpanzees and gorillas in two separate families. His claim that chimpanzees and gorillas should join humans in family Hominidae sparked a well-known conflict with George Gaylord Simpson, Ernst Mayr, and other prominent evolutionary biologists. Less well known, but equally significant, were a series of disagreements between Goodman and other prominent molecular evolutionists concerning both methodological and theoretical issues. These included qualitative versus quantitative data, the role of natural selection, rates of evolution, and the reality of molecular clocks. These controversies continued throughout Goodman’s career, even as he moved from immunological techniques to protein and DNA sequence analysis. This episode highlights the diversity of methods used by molecular evolutionists and the conflicting conclusions drawn from the data that these methods generated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aronson, Jay. 2002. ‘Molecules and Monkeys: George Gaylord Simpson and the Challenge of Molecular Evolution.’ History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 24: 441–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyden, Allan. 1953. ‘Fifty Years of Systematic Serology.’ Systematic Zoology 2: 19–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyden, Allan. 1958. ‘Introductory Remarks.’ Allan Boyden (ed.), Serological and Biochemical Comparisons of Proteins. Rutgers University Press:New Brunswick, pp. 1–2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyden, Allan. 1963. ‘Precipitin Testing and Classification.’ Systematic Zoology 12: 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyden, Allan. 1964. ‘Perspectives in Systematic Serology.’ Charles A. Leone (ed.), Taxonomic Biochemistry and Serology. New York:Ronald Press, pp. 75–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyden, Allan. 1973. Perspectives in Zoology. New York:Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, Wilfrid Le Gros. 1959. The Antecedents of Man. Edinburgh:Edinburgh University Press, pp. 308–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daston, Lorraine, Galison, Peter. 2007. Objectivity. New York:Zone Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietrich, Michael. 1994. ‘The Origins of the Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution.’ Journal of the History of Biology 27: 21–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dietrich, Michael. 1998. ‘Paradox and Persuasion: Negotiating the Place of Molecular Evolution within Evolutionary Biology.’ Journal of the History of Biology 31: 85–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doolittle, Russell F. 1996. ‘Overview of the Symposium on Molecular Anthropology.’ Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 5: 266–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Felsenstein, Joseph. 2004. Inferring Phylogenies. Sunderland, Massachusetts:Sinauer, pp. 145–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gannett, Lisa, Griesemer, James R. 2004. ‘The ABO Blood Groups: Mapping the History and Geography of Genes in Homo sapiens.’ Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, Jean-Paul Gaudilliére (eds.), Classical Genetic Research and its Legacy: The Mapping Cultures of Twentieth-Century Genetics. New York:Routledge, pp. 119–172.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, Ann. 1995. ‘When It Comes to Evolution, Humans are in the Slow Class.’ Science 267: 1907–1908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, Morris. 1960a. ‘On the Emergence of Intraspecific Differences in the Protein Antigens of Human Beings.’ American Naturalist 94: 153–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, Morris. 1960b. ‘The Species Specificity of Proteins as Observed in the Wilson Comparative Analysis Plates.’ American Naturalist 94: 184–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, Morris. 1961. ‘The Role of Immunochemical Differences in the Phyletic Development of Human Behavior.’ Human Biology 33: 131–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, Morris. 1962a. ‘Man’s Place in the Phylogeny of the Primates as Reflected in Serum Proteins.’ Sherwood L Washburn (ed.), Classification and Human Evolution. Chicago:Aldine, pp. 204–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, Morris. 1962b. ‘Immunochemistry of the Primates and Primate Evolution.’ Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 102: 219–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, Morris. 1996. ‘Epilogue: A Personal Account of the Origins of a New Paradigm.’ Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 5: 269–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, Morris, Moore, G William. 1971. ‘Immunodiffusion Systematics of the Primates I. The Catarrhini.’ Systematic Zoology 20: 19–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, Morris, Moore, G William, Matsuda, Genji. 1975. ‘Darwinian Evolution in the Genealogy of Haemoglobin.’ Nature 253: 603–608.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagen, Joel B. 1999. ‘Naturalists, Molecular Biologists, and the Challenges of Molecular Evolution.’ Journal of the History of Biology 32: 321–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagen, Joel B. 2001. ‘The Introduction of Computers into Systematic Research in the United States during the 1960s.’ Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 32: 291–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagen, Joel B. 2009. ‘Descended from Darwin? George Gaylord Simpson, Morris Goodman, and Primate Systematics.’ Joe Cain, Michael Ruse (eds.), Descended from Darwin: Insights into the History of Evolutionary Studies, 1900–1970. Philadelphia:American Philosophical Society, pp. 93–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmgren, Jan, Nilsson, Lars-Åke. 2007. ‘Commentary.’ Acta Pathologic, Microbiologica et Immunologica Scandinavica 115: 496–498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jukes, Thomas H. 1991. ‘Early Development of the Neutral Theory.’ Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 34: 473–485.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimura, Motoo. 1983. The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • King, Jack Lester, Jukes, Thomas H. 1969. ‘Non-Darwinian Evolution.’ Science 164: 788–798.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korngold, Leonhard. 1956. ‘Immunological Cross-Reactions Studied by the Ouchterlony Gel Diffusion Technique: Theory and Practice.’ The Journal of Immunology 77: 119–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, Roger. 1990. “Molecular Clocks Run Out of Time.” New Scientist 125 (February 10): 38–41.

  • Lewin, Roger. 1997. Bones of Contention: Controversies in the Search for Human Origins, 2nd ed. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, Roger, Foley, Robert. 2004. Principles of Human Evolution, 2nd ed. Malden, Massachusetts:Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marks, Jonathan. 2002. What it Means to be 98% Chimpanzee: Apes, People, and their Genes. Berkeley:University of California Press, pp. 261–262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, G William, Goodman, Morris. 1968. ‘A Set Theoretical Approach to Immunotaxonomy: Analysis of Species Comparisons in Modified Ouchterlony Plates.’ Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 30: 279–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, Gregory J. 1998. ‘Emile Zuckerkandl, Linus Pauling, and the Molecular Evolutionary Clock, 1959–1965.’ Journal of the History of Biology 31: 155–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nuttall, George H F. 1904. Blood Immunity and Blood Relationship: A Demonstration of Certain Blood Relationships Among Animals by Means of The Precipitin Test for Blood. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perutz, MF. 1983. ‘Species Adaptation in a Protein Molecule.’ Molecular Biology and Evolution 1: 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell, JR. 1995. ‘Molecular Techniques in Population Genetics: A Brief History.’ B Schierwater, B Streit, GP Wagner, R DeSalle (eds.), Molecular Ecology and Evolution: Approaches and Applications. Boston:Birkhauser Verlag, pp. 131–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarich, Vincent M. 1968. “The Origins of the Hominids: An Immunological Approach.” S. L. Washburn and Phyllis C. Jay (eds.), Perspectives on Human Evolution, vol. 1., New York: Holt Rinehart, and Winston, pp. 94–121.

  • Sarich, Vincent M. 1983. ‘Retrospective on Hominoid Macromolecular Systematics.’ Russell L Ciochon, Robert S Corruccini (eds.), New Interpretations of Ape and Human Ancestry. New York:Plenum Press, pp. 137–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarich, Vincent M. 1993. ‘Mammalian Systematics: Twenty-five Years Among their Albumins and Transferins.’ Frederic S Szalay, Michael J Novacek, Malcolm C McKenna (eds.), Mammal Phylogeny: Placentals. New York:Springer-Verlag, pp. 103–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarich, Vincent, Frank, Miele. 2004. Race: The Reality of Human Differences. Boulder:Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarich, Vincent M, Wilson, Allan C. 1966. ‘Quantitative Immunochemistry and the Evolution of Primate Albumins: Micro-Complement Fixation.’ Science 154: 1563–1566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarich, Vincent M, Wilson, Allan C. 1967. ‘Immunological Time Scale for Hominid Evolution.’ Science 158: 1200–1203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sommer, Marianne. 2008. ‘History in the Gene: Negotiations between Molecular and Organismal Anthropology.’ Journal of the History of Biology 41: 473–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wildman, Derek E., Goodman, Morris. 2004. ‘Humankind’s Place in a Phylogenetic Classification of Primates.’ Solomon P Wasser (ed.), Evolutionary Theory and Processes: Modern Horizons, Papers in Honour of Eviator Nevo. Dordrecht:Kluwer, pp. 293–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wildman, Derek E., Chen, Caoyi, Erez, Offer, Grossman, Lawrence I., Goodman, Morris, Romero, Roberto. 2006. ‘Evolution of the Mammalian Placenta Revealed by Phylogenetic Analysis.’ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103: 3203–3208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerkandl, Emile. 1962. ‘Perspectives on Molecular Anthropology.’ Sherwood L Washburn (ed.), Classification and Human Evolution. Chicago:Aldine, pp. 243–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerkandl, Emile. 1964. ‘Further Principles of Chemical Paleogenetics as Applied to the Evolution of Hemoglobin.’ Hubert Peeters (ed.), Protides of the Biological Fluids. Amsterdam:Elsevier, pp. 102–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerkandl, Emile. 1987. ‘On the Molecular Evolutionary Clock.’ Journal of Molecular Evolution 26: 34–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerkandl, Emile, Pauling, Linus. 1965a. ‘Evolutionary Divergence and Convergence in Proteins.’ Vernon Bryson, Henry J. Vogel (eds.), Evolving Genes and Proteins. New York:Academic Press, pp. 97–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerkandl, Emile, Pauling, Linus. 1965b. ‘Molecules as Documents of Evolutionary History.’ Journal of Theoretical Biology 8: 357–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joel B. Hagen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hagen, J.B. Waiting for Sequences: Morris Goodman, Immunodiffusion Experiments, and the Origins of Molecular Anthropology. J Hist Biol 43, 697–725 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-009-9219-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-009-9219-7

Keywords

Navigation