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WE ARE NOT AMUSED. "Loeb was not glad to read that he had demonstrated the possibility of the "immaculate conception" of Jesus, nor that artificial parthenogenesis was equivalent to spontaneous generation." https://lnkd.in/eQf5Evv View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE focuses on the first demonstration of artificial parthenogenesis and the firestorm it created. Pathenogenesis is a type of natural asexual reproduction in which the offspring develops from unfertilized eggs, effectively an immaculate conception. This is a story of an eccentric scientist who was launched into the public limelight by his provocative work. View in LinkedIn

IMMACULATUM. "One religious paper noted that "it is interesting to know that the science of this recent day is entertaining as a possibility what Christian faith accepts as actual in the case of the most notable birth that ever occurred." https://lnkd.in/eQf5Evv View in LinkedIn

ENRICHED HOUSEKEEPING GENES. "In general, single-copy genes are enriched for essential housekeeping functions and include genes targeted to the chloroplast and those involved in DNA repair and replication; they also are more highly and broadly expressed than are those retained in duplicate." http://www.amjbot.org/content/early/2015/10/09/ajb.1500320 View in LinkedIn

DANGERS OF SALT WATER. "They talked about "maiden ladies" giving up sea bathing on hearing of Loeb's discovery, and joked that vacations at the seashore did often result in conception." https://lnkd.in/eQf5Evv View in LinkedIn

QUAINT COMMENT. "Loeb supposedly responded to the criticism that he had not excluded all sperm in his first experiments by earnestly assuring the "gentlemen" that he had filtered and sterilized the seawater, and "in wiping out the dishes used only ladies' handkerchiefs." https://lnkd.in/eQf5Evv View in LinkedIn

British households fail to recycle a 'staggering' 16m plastic bottles a day View in LinkedIn

CREATION OF LIFE. "In late 1899, a number of newspapers reported Loeb's first announcement of artificial parthenogenesis. The headline in the Boston Herald was typical: "Creation of Life. Startling Discovery of Prof. Loeb. Lower Animals Produced by Chemical Means. Process May Apply to Human Species. Immaculate Conception Explained. Wonderful Experiments Conducted at Woods Hole." Loeb rapidly moved from being a professor known only in narrow academic circles to a major scientist and eminent, even notorious, public figure." https://lnkd.in/eQf5Evv View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS a peek at the work of a remarkable scientist who changed biology. This moment in the history of life science was rekindled by a similar firestorm in 2010 when Craig Venter claimed he had created a new branch to the tree of life, Synthia. The reaction of the public and of fellow scientists was equally split between superlative praise and a deluge of denunciation. https://lnkd.in/eQz5W6N View in LinkedIn

NOBEL CANDIDATE. "In 1901 Loeb was a finalist for the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine." View in LinkedIn