Gerald Edelman

Gerald Edelman

Biography

Vincent Astor Professor at The Rockefeller University
Director of The Neurosciences Institute

Gerald M. Edelman was born in 1929 in New York City. He attended the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania where he received the M.D. degree in 1954. In the succeeding year, he was a Medical House Officer, becoming a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1955. In 1957, he joined the Rockefeller Institute as a graduate fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Henry G. Kunkel. After receiving the Ph.D. in 1960, he remained at the Rockefeller Institute as Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and started work in his own laboratory. In 1963, he became Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, a position from which he retired in 1966. Since then, he has been a Professor of the Rockefeller University and director of The Neurosciences Institute.

In addition to his studies of antibody structure, his biomolecular research interests have included the application of fluorescence spectroscopy and fluorescent probes to the study of proteins and the development of new methods of fractionation of both molecules and cells. Edelman shifted into neuroscience after winning the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology in 1972, with Rodnet Porter, for their work in immunology, about the chemical structure of antibodies.

His neurocientific work has focused on what he calls "neural Darwinism", the theory that populations of neurons develop individual networks through a Darwinian selection process. He thinks that the converse opinion, that neurons are genetically coded to make specific connections, just as transistors are wired in a preset pattern, is untenable given the very limited size of eukaryotic genomes in relation with the explosive number of neuronal connections. The theory of neural Darwinism or "neuronal group selection" helps bring together and extend some of the insights about brain composition, connectivity, structure, function, and evolution discussed so far. It is a comprehensive multidisciplinary theory.

The development of this theory was related to The Neurosciences Institute, which had been a long time evolving, beginning in 1981 as an offshoot of the Neuroscience Research Program at the MIT. Since then more than 900 scientist have passed trough, and it has grown to 32 full-time researchers who are fully funded by the institute to pursue their individual project for up to 4 years. The fellows represent practically every field of modern neuroscience.

Gerald Edelman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Society of Biological Chemists and the American Association of Immunologists, as well as a number of other scientific societies

Edelman has been acclaimed with books like Neural Darwinism (1987, Basic Books), Topobiology (1988, Basic Books), or The remembered Present (1989, Basic Books) where he proposes a comprehensive theory of consciousness, integrating anatomy, cell biology and psychology. From the cognitive point of view, this work ambitions a unified theory embracing the full reality of perception, memory, learning, language, and consciousness as we know it.

The title of his contribution to the Cajal Conference is Complexity and Consciousness.

Academic Address

Director, The Neurosciences Institute
10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive
San Diego, California 92121

E-Mail Address / URL

Some bibliography

	Gerald Edelman
	Biography
	Vincent Astor Professor at The Rockefeller University Director of The Neurosciences Institute Gerald M. Edelman was born in 1929 in New York City. He attended the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania where he received the M.D. degree in 1954. In the succeeding year, he was a Medical House Officer, becoming a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1955. In 1957, he joined the Rockefeller Institute as a graduate fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Henry G. Kunkel. After receiving the Ph.D. in 1960, he remained at the Rockefeller Institute as Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and started work in his own laboratory. In 1963, he became Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, a position from which he retired in 1966. Since then, he has been a Professor of the Rockefeller University and director of The Neurosciences Institute. In addition to his studies of antibody structure, his biomolecular research interests have included the application of fluorescence spectroscopy and fluorescent probes to the study of proteins and the development of new methods of fractionation of both molecules and cells. Edelman shifted into neuroscience after winning the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology in 1972, with Rodnet Porter, for their work in immunology, about the chemical structure of antibodies. His neurocientific work has focused on what he calls "neural Darwinism", the theory that populations of neurons develop individual networks through a Darwinian selection process. He thinks that the converse opinion, that neurons are genetically coded to make specific connections, just as transistors are wired in a preset pattern, is untenable given the very limited size of eukaryotic genomes in relation with the explosive number of neuronal connections. The theory of neural Darwinism or "neuronal group selection" helps bring together and extend some of the insights about brain composition, connectivity, structure, function, and evolution discussed so far. It is a comprehensive multidisciplinary theory. The development of this theory was related to The Neurosciences Institute, which had been a long time evolving, beginning in 1981 as an offshoot of the Neuroscience Research Program at the MIT. Since then more than 900 scientist have passed trough, and it has grown to 32 full-time researchers who are fully funded by the institute to pursue their individual project for up to 4 years. The fellows represent practically every field of modern neuroscience. Gerald Edelman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Society of Biological Chemists and the American Association of Immunologists, as well as a number of other scientific societies Edelman has been acclaimed with books like Neural Darwinism (1987, Basic Books), Topobiology (1988, Basic Books), or The remembered Present (1989, Basic Books) where he proposes a comprehensive theory of consciousness, integrating anatomy, cell biology and psychology. From the cognitive point of view, this work ambitions a unified theory embracing the full reality of perception, memory, learning, language, and consciousness as we know it. The title of his contribution to the Cajal Conference is Complexity and Consciousness.
	Academic Address
	Director, The Neurosciences Institute 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive San Diego, California 92121
	E-Mail Address / URL

	Some bibliography