Mae-Wan Ho (; 12 November 1941 – 24 March 2016) was a

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 processes ...

Independent Science Panel
CURRICULUM VITAE of Mae-Wan Ho known for her critical views on

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including ...

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 ...

.Davidson College
Dr. Mae-Wan Ho bio She authored or co-authored a number of publications, including 10 books, such as ''The Rainbow and the Worm, the Physics of Organisms'' (1993, 1998), ''Genetic Engineering: Dream or Nightmare?'' (1998, 1999), ''Living with the Fluid Genome'' (2003) and ''Living Rainbow H₂O'' (2012). Ho was criticized for embracing

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

Biography

Ho received a PhD in biochemistry in 1967 from

Hong Kong University The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...

, was postdoctoral fellow in biochemical genetics,

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

, from 1968 to 1972, senior research fellow in

Queen Elizabeth College Queen Elizabeth College (QEC) was a college in London. It had its origins in the Ladies' (later Women's) Department of King's College, London, England, opened in 1885 but later accepted men as well. The first King's 'extension' lectures for ...

, lecturer in genetics (from 1976) and reader in biology (from 1985) in the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

, and since retiring in June 2000 visiting professor of biophysics in Catania University, Sicily. Ho died of cancer in March 2016.

Institute of Science in Society

Ho was a co-founder and director of the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS), an

interest group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

which published fringe articles about climate change, GMOs,

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a di ...

, traditional Chinese medicine, and

water memory Water memory is the purported ability of water to retain a memory of substances previously dissolved in it even after an arbitrary number of serial dilutions. It has been claimed to be a mechanism by which homeopathic remedies work, even when ...

. In reviewing the organisation,

David Colquhoun David Colquhoun (born 19 July 1936) is a British pharmacologist at University College London (UCL). He has contributed to the general theory of receptor and synaptic mechanisms, and in particular the theory and practice of single ion channel f ...

accused the ISIS of promoting

and specifically criticised Ho's understanding of

. The institute is on the

Quackwatch Quackwatch is a United States-based website, self-described as a "network of people" founded by Stephen Barrett, which aims to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" and to focus on "quackery-related information tha ...

list of questionable organizations.

Genetic engineering

Ho, together with Joe Cummins of the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames Ri ...

, has argued that a sterility gene engineered into a crop could be transferred to other crops or wild relatives and that "This could severely compromise the agronomic performance of conventional crops and cause wild relatives to go extinct". They argued that this process could also produce genetic instabilities, which might be "leading to catastrophic breakdown", and stated that there are no data to assure that this has not happened or cannot happen. This concern contrasts with the reason why these sterile plants were developed, which was to prevent the transfer of genes to the environment by preventing any plants that are bred with or that receive these genes from reproducing. Indeed, any gene that caused sterility when transferred to a new species would be eliminated by

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...

and could not spread. Ho expressed concerns about the spread of altered genes through

horizontal gene transfer Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between unicellular and/or multicellular organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offspring ( reproduction). ...

and that the experimental alteration of genetic structures may be out of control. One of her concerns is that the

antibiotic resistant Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from the effects of antimicrobials. All classes of microbes can evolve resistance. Fungi evolve antifungal resistance. Viruses evolve antiviral resistance. P ...

gene that was isolated from bacteria and used in some

GM crops Genetically modified crops (GM crops) are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of ''Agrobacterium'' for the delivery of s ...

might cross back from plants by

to different species of bacteria, because "If this happened it would leave us unable to treat major illnesses like

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion ...

and ''

E coli ''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escher ...

''." Her views were published in an opinion article based on a review of others' research. The arguments and conclusions of this article were heavily criticized by prominent plant scientists, and the claims of the article criticized in detail in a response that was published in the same journal, prompting a reply from Ho. A review on the topic published in 2008 in the ''Annual Review of Plant Biology'' stated that ''"These speculations have been extensively rebutted by the scientific community"''. Ho has also argued that bacteria could acquire the bacterial gene barnase from transgenic plants. This gene kills any cell that expresses it and lacks barstar, the specific inhibitor of barnase activity. In an article entitled ''Chronicle of An Ecological Disaster Foretold'', which was published in an ISIS newsletter, Ho speculated that if a bacterium acquired the barnase gene and survived, this could make the bacteria a more dangerous pathogen.

Evolution

Ho has claimed that evolution is pluralistic because there are many mechanisms that can produce variation in phenotypes independently of haphazard mutations. Ho has advocated a form of

Lamarckian Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...

evolution. She has been criticized by the

scientific community The scientific community is a diverse network of interacting scientists. It includes many " sub-communities" working on particular scientific fields, and within particular institutions; interdisciplinary and cross-institutional activities are als ...

for setting up

straw man A straw man (sometimes written as strawman) is a form of argument and an informal fallacy of having the impression of refuting an argument, whereas the real subject of the argument was not addressed or refuted, but instead replaced with a false ...

arguments in her criticism of natural selection and supporting discredited evolutionary theories. But some of her Lamarckian ideas have since entered the mainstream of the evolutionary literature. The paleontologist

Philip Gingerich Philip Dean Gingerich (born March 23, 1946) is a paleontologist and educator. He is Professor Emeritus of Geology, Biology, and Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He directed the Museum of Paleontology at the University ...

has noted that Ho's evolutionary ideas are based on vitalistic thinking. Gingerich, Philip D. (1989). ''New Vitalism in Evolution: Evolutionary Processes and Metaphors M.-W. Ho S. W. Fox''. ''

BioScience ''BioScience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the ''AIBS Bulletin'' (1951–19 ...

'' 39: 195-196.

Publications

*Mae-Wan Ho. ''Living Rainbow H₂O'', Singapore; River Edge, NJ: World Scientific, 2012. . *Mae-Wan Ho. ''Meaning of Life & the Universe'', Singapore; River Edge, NJ: World Scientific, 2017. *Mae-Wan Ho. ''The Rainbow and the Worm, the Physics of Organisms'', Singapore; River Edge, NJ: World Scientific, 1998. . *Mae-Wan Ho. ''Genetic engineering: dream or nightmare? Turning the tide on the brave new world of bad science and big business'', New York, NY: Continuum, 2000. . *Mae-Wan Ho. ''Living with the fluid genome'', London, UK: Institute of Science in Society; Penang, Malaysia: Third World Network, 2003. . *Mae-Wan Ho, Sam Burcher, Rhea Gala and Vejko Velkovic. ''Unraveling AIDS: the independent science and promising alternative therapies'', Ridgefield, CT: Vital Health Pub., 2005. . *Mae- Wan Ho, Peter Saunders. ''Beyond Neo-Darwinism: An Introduction to the New Evolutionary Paradigm'', London: Academic Press, 1984.

References

External links

Personal profile at Institute of Science in Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Mae-Wan 1941 births 2016 deaths Academics of the Open University Academics of the University of London Non-Darwinian evolution Women geneticists