Russell F. Doolittle (January 10, 1931 – October 11, 2019) was an American

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

who taught at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

(UCSD). Described as a "world-renowned evolutionary biologist", Doolittle's research primarily focused on the structure and evolution of proteins. Highlights of Doolittle's decades of research include his role in co-developing the hydropathy index and determining the structure of

fibrinogen Fibrinogen (coagulation factor I) is a glycoprotein protein complex, complex, produced in the liver, that circulates in the blood of all vertebrates. During tissue and vascular injury, it is converted Enzyme, enzymatically by thrombin to fibrin ...

Early life and education

Doolittle was born on January 10, 1931, in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

. Doolittle earned a B.A. in biology from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

in 1952, and an M.A. in education from

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in 1957. He earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1962 with research in

blood clotting Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a thrombus, blood clot. It results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The process of co ...

. Doolittle later conducted

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

funded by the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH).

Career

Doolittle notably co-developed the hydropathy index, and was instrumental in determining the structure of

. Dootlittle was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, 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 ...

from 1984, was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

and was a co-recipient of the

Paul Ehrlich Prize The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize is an annual award bestowed by the since 1952 for research in medicine. It carries a monetary prize of 120,000 Euro. The prize ceremony is traditionally held on the 14th of March, the birthday of Nob ...

. In 1985, Doolittle was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1985. In 1992, he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. In addition, Doolittle calculated the date of the divergence of all life forms from a

common ancestor Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time. According to modern evolutionary biology, all living beings could be descendants of a unique ancestor commonl ...

. In 2006, Doolittle was awarded the John J. Carty Award from the National Academy of Sciences for his professional achievements.

Personal views

Doolittle was a critic of

creationism Creationism is the faith, religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of Creation myth, divine creation, and is often Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific.#Gunn 2004, Gun ...

and

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins".#Numbers 2006, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for it ...

(ID), and accused

Michael Behe Michael Joseph Behe ( ; born January 18, 1952) is an American biochemist and an advocate of the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design (ID). Behe serves as professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, an ...

, an ID proponent, of misquoting his work. In 1981, Doolittle debated ID proponent

Duane Gish Duane Tolbert Gish (February 17, 1921 – March 5, 2013) was an American biochemist and a prominent member of the creationist movement. A young Earth creationist, Gish was a former vice-president of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) ...

on live television. In 2016, three years before is death, Doolittle signed onto an open letter urging world leaders to take the threat of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

seriously.

Death and legacy

Doolittle died in

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

on October 11, 2019, at the age of 88. Molecular biologist Kenneth R. Miller praised Doolittle's contributions to science, stating he regards Doolittle "as the very epitome of a humane life in science".

Books

*Russell F. Doolittle
''Of Urfs and Orfs: A Primer on how to Analyze Derived Amino Acid Sequences''
(University Science Books, December 1986) *Russell F. Doolittle, John N. Abelson, and Melvin I. Simon, ''Computer Methods for Macromolecular Sequence Analysis (Methods in Enzymology)'' (Academic Press, 1996) *Russell F. Doolittle, ''The Evolution of Vertebrate Blood Clotting'' (University Science Books, August 2012) *John N. Abelson, Melvin I. Simon, and Russell F. Doolittle, ''Molecular Evolution: Computer Analysis of Protein and Nucleic Acid Sequences, Volume 183: Volume 183: Molecular Evolution (Methods in Enzymology)'' (Academic Press, Feb 28, 1990) *Mosesson, Michael W. and Doolittle, Russell F. ''Molecular biology of fibrinogen and fibrin (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences)'' (New York Academy of Sciences, 1983)

References

External links

MSS 77

UC San Diego Library.

at

40/40 Vision: Russell Doolittle - The Revolution of Biology
from UC Television (UCTV) (Video of lecture tracing DNA from our closest to most distant ancestors)
Profiles in Discovery
from UC Television (UCTV) (Video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Doolittle, Russell 1931 births 2019 deaths 21st-century American biologists American evolutionary biologists University of California, San Diego faculty Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Wesleyan University alumni Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American critics of creationism Scientists from New Haven, Connecticut Members of the American Philosophical Society