lthough the program “Genetics and the Origin of Organismal Complexity” is a rigorously scientific project, Dr. Günter Wagner readily acknowledges that it has philosophical ambitions too. It will be important, he thinks, to keep the program consistently within the mainstream of the scientific community, without losing sight of its philosophical dimension.
Wagner, who is chair of the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University, boldly proclaimed his philosophical objective in his program proposal to the Templeton Foundation: “If we can show that the emergence of a new cell type is underwritten by a causally, cohesive mechanism, then we shall give back to organismic life, in its various forms, its dignity as an irreducible part of reality.”
The object of the research is to understand how creative processes work in organic evolution, in particular how novel body parts, both cell types and organs, originate. “The difficulty in understanding innovation or novelties,” says Wagner, “is to understand how new body parts arise and become basically independent entities in evolutionary modification.”
Since the program only began in late 2007 and runs until 2012, funded by a $2.75 million Templeton grant, it is still in its early stages, but Wagner has already put his basic research team together, including a highly trained research assistant, a former graduate student who did most of the preliminary work leading to the project, and a protein biochemist.
As regards publications, five papers or reviews are already in the pipeline and Wagner does not intend to wait until the end of the program before producing a book: he believes that exercise should run in tandem with the research. “I need to start writing a book this year that explains the conceptual outline of the research program.”
It is too early to make any decision on whether a conference should be organized, but, in the meantime, Wagner regards it as crucial that his research should be constantly in the view of the scientific community, through publication in high-profile journals and maintaining a presence at national and international scientific meetings, “to make sure that our research is credible to the scientific community and that way avoid the impression of being somewhat para-scientific.”
He is wary of that misconception because of the philosophical dimension of his work. “I think in basic research, if it’s not aimed at alleviating suffering for humans, its main justification has to be this philosophical realm. Since we are not aiming at curing cancer, or things like that, this must be the main motivation for us to do this relatively esoteric research.”
But he is also aware that such a motivation can be misunderstood and of the consequent need to demonstrate the scientific rigor of his work to his peers, while preserving a delicate equilibrium. “I think there’s a balance between trying to reach out as widely as possible and also maintaining scientific credibility. Philosophical ambitions are often frowned upon among scientists and that’s why we have to strike a balance between the two.”
As to what is the biggest question in his field, he believes this project is investigating it. “I think the goal of this particular program realizes what I believe is the most important work—the understanding of how genetic mechanisms lead to higher levels of organization during the evolutionary history of life.” Wagner acknowledges there are huge challenges ahead. “But the main difference between now and a few decades ago is that now we have the technological means actually to make progress in that area.”