Armand Marie Leroi
Encyclopedia
Armand Marie Leroi is an evolutionary developmental biologist
at Imperial College
in London
. A Dutch citizen, his youth was spent in New Zealand, South Africa
and Canada
. He was awarded a BSc. by Dalhousie University
, Halifax, Canada in 1989, and a Ph.D. by the University of California, Irvine
in 1993. This was followed by postdoctoral work at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
, New York
using the nematode
Caenorhabditis elegans
as an experimental organism.
In 2001, he was appointed lecturer at Imperial College London. He has written one book, entitled Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body for which he was awarded the Guardian First Book Award
in 2004. In 2004 he adapted his book into a television documentary series for Britain' Channel 4
entitled Human Mutants.
Leroi has presented two other TV documentary series for Channel 4: "Alien Worlds" in 2005 and "What Makes Us Human" in 2006. Despite his TV appearances, Leroi has expressed scepticism about the truthfulness of television creatives. In an email exchange with TV director Martin Durkin
, concerning the latter's documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle
, Leroi wrote: "left to their own devices, TV producers simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth".
He is also known as one of the first testers of the beneficial acclimation hypothesis
. In 2005, Leroi published an article in the New York Times entitled "A Family Tree in Every Gene", which argued for the usefulness of racial types in medical genetics.
It was found during the making of "What Makes Us Human" that his ASPM gene locus is heterozygous. That is to say, he has one copy of the recent variant and one copy of the old ASPM allele
.
In January 2009 Leroi presented the BBC4 documentary What Darwin Didn't Know
.
In January 2010 Leroi presented the BBC4 documentary Aristotle's Lagoon
.
Evolutionary developmental biology
Evolutionary developmental biology is a field of biology that compares the developmental processes of different organisms to determine the ancestral relationship between them, and to discover how developmental processes evolved...
at Imperial College
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. A Dutch citizen, his youth was spent in New Zealand, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He was awarded a BSc. by Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
, Halifax, Canada in 1989, and a Ph.D. by the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
in 1993. This was followed by postdoctoral work at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a graduate school of Yeshiva University. It is a not-for-profit, private, nonsectarian medical school located on the Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus in the Morris Park neighborhood of the borough of the Bronx of New York City...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
using the nematode
Nematode
The nematodes or roundworms are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. It has been estimated that the total number of nematode...
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living, transparent nematode , about 1 mm in length, which lives in temperate soil environments. Research into the molecular and developmental biology of C. elegans was begun in 1974 by Sydney Brenner and it has since been used extensively as a model...
as an experimental organism.
In 2001, he was appointed lecturer at Imperial College London. He has written one book, entitled Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body for which he was awarded the Guardian First Book Award
Guardian First Book Award
Guardian First Book Award, issued before 1999 as Guardian Fiction Prize or Guardian Fiction Award, is awarded to new writing in fiction and non-fiction.-History:...
in 2004. In 2004 he adapted his book into a television documentary series for Britain' Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
entitled Human Mutants.
Leroi has presented two other TV documentary series for Channel 4: "Alien Worlds" in 2005 and "What Makes Us Human" in 2006. Despite his TV appearances, Leroi has expressed scepticism about the truthfulness of television creatives. In an email exchange with TV director Martin Durkin
Martin Durkin (television director)
Martin Durkin is a television producer and director, most prominently of television documentaries for Channel 4 in Britain. He is managing director of WAG TV, a London-based independent TV production company. He has produced, directed and executive-produced a wide variety of programmes covering...
, concerning the latter's documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle
The Great Global Warming Swindle
The Great Global Warming Swindle is a polemical documentary film that suggests that the scientific opinion on climate change is influenced by funding and political factors, and questions whether scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming exists....
, Leroi wrote: "left to their own devices, TV producers simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth".
He is also known as one of the first testers of the beneficial acclimation hypothesis
Beneficial acclimation hypothesis
The Beneficial Acclimation Hypothesis is the physiological hypothesis that acclimating to a particular environment provides an organism with advantages in that environment...
. In 2005, Leroi published an article in the New York Times entitled "A Family Tree in Every Gene", which argued for the usefulness of racial types in medical genetics.
It was found during the making of "What Makes Us Human" that his ASPM gene locus is heterozygous. That is to say, he has one copy of the recent variant and one copy of the old ASPM allele
Allele
An allele is one of two or more forms of a gene or a genetic locus . "Allel" is an abbreviation of allelomorph. Sometimes, different alleles can result in different observable phenotypic traits, such as different pigmentation...
.
In January 2009 Leroi presented the BBC4 documentary What Darwin Didn't Know
What Darwin Didn't Know
What Darwin Didn't Know is a documentary show on BBC Four presented by Armand Marie Leroi which charts the progress in the field of Evolutionary Theory since the original publication of 'On the Origin of Species' in 1859....
.
In January 2010 Leroi presented the BBC4 documentary Aristotle's Lagoon
Aristotle's Lagoon
Aristole's Lagoon is a one-off TV documentary presented by eminent biologist Armand Leroi. He traces Aristole's self-exile to the Greek island of Lesvos. Leroi explores how Aristole founded the modern scientific field of biology...
.