Ulrich Kutschera

Ulrich Kutschera (born 2 February 1955) is a professor of plant physiology and evolutionary biology who works at the University of Kassel, Germany,[1] and as a Visiting Scientist in Stanford/Palo Alto, California, USA.[2][3][4] He is the founder and head of "AK Evolutionbiologie", an association of evolutionary biologists in Germany. Kutschera is critical of creationism and intelligent design.[5][6]

Ulrich Kutschera
Ulrich Kutschera
Born2 February 1955 (1955-02-02) (age 66)
Freiburg, Germany
NationalityGerman
Scientific career
FieldsPhysiology and evolution of bacteria, plants and animals; History and philosophy of biology

Education and career

Kutschera completed his undergraduate studies (biology/chemistry; theory of music) at the University of Freiburg, Germany, receiving a MS in zoology and evolutionary biology. In 1985, he received a doctorate degree (PhD) in plant physiology. His thesis (summa cum laude) was awarded the Pfizer Research Award (Germany) in 1986.

Between 1985 and 1988, Kutschera was the recipient of a Humboldt-fellowship (Feodor Lynen Program). He carried out his post-doctoral work at Stanford University (Department of Biology; Carnegie Institution for Science) and at Michigan State University (MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory). Kutschera was then employed at the University of Bonn as a research associate and thereafter as a lecturer. He began his professional career in 1993 at the Faculty of Biology and Chemistry (University of Kassel) as Full Professor and Head of a Department. In 2007, he joined the Research Groups of Z.-Y. Wang/W.R.Briggs in Stanford, California (USA), as a Visiting Scientist (experimental analysis of hormone action in plants, etc.). The ongoing cooperation with Winslow R. Briggs (1928 - 2019) and co-workers on sunflower movements, etc., yielded a number of high-profile publications.[2][7]

Kutschera is an elected member of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany and the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB). In 2002, he became head of the Arbeitskreis (AK) Evolutionsbiologie (workgroup evolutionary biology) at the Verband Deutscher Biologen (vdbiol)[8] (association of German biologists), and from 2004 to 2007 was vice president.[5] In 2013, Kutschera was elected corresponding member of the Botanical Society of America (BSA),[9] and, since 2015, he is a Scientific Advisor for the Agriculture-Food-Health Res. Comp. I-Cultiver Inc. based in Livermore, California, USA,[4] and the Systems Biology Group in Palo Alto, California, USA.[3]

Criminal trial

In July 2017, Ulrich Kutschera spoke out against same-sex marriage in an interview with the conservative roman catholic online magazine kath.net, stating, among other things: "Should adoption rights for man-man or woman-woman-erotic-unions come, I see state-sponsored pedophilia and the most serious child abuse coming our way."[10]

Two homosexual men, a doctor from Berlin and a university employee, as well as the then chairman of the AStA then filed criminal charges against Kutschera.[11][12] The public prosecutor's office in Kassel subsequently opened an investigation against Kutschera.[13] The AStA of the University of Kassel accused him of homophobic views in a statement. Hesse's Science Minister Boris Rhein called Kutschera's theses "abstruse". The university management referred to academic freedom, but at the same time distanced itself from Kutschera's statements.[14]

On June 5, 2019, the public prosecutor's office brought charges against Kutschera before the Kassel District Court for incitement of the people in combination with insult and defamation, as well as for hit-and-run.[15][16]

Scientific work

Kutschera has studied the mechanism of phytohormone-mediated cell expansion (epidermal growth-control theory of stem elongation; protein secretion hypothesis of auxin action; epiphytic methylobacteria as phytosymbionts in living-fossil plants).[17][18] His contributions to the taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of aquatic annelids (and methylobacteria) includes, for example, the discovery/description of the Golden Gate leech; he also revised the systematics of medicinal leeches and published a theory on the evolution of parental care in the Hirudinea.[18][19]

Kutschera has written about evolution and creationism from historical and philosophical perspectives and the modern theory of biological evolution as an expanded synthesis, as well as the Synade-model of macroevolution. In 2008, Kutschera described the strict separation of scientific facts and theories from religious dogma in Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species (1859) as Darwin's philosophical imperative.[18][20]

Evolution versus intelligent design

In 2003, Kutschera said,

"Anti-evolutionism in German-speaking countries has already infiltrated some academic circles." [21]

In 2007, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in San Francisco, US, when speaking about the spread of creationism in Europe, Kutschera said,

"The more one argues against this creationist propaganda...the less you can convince people who are not scientists...[we should] no longer talk about Darwinism, but use the term Evolutionary Biology, which is a scientific discipline, like Physiology." [22]

In 2015, at the AAAS-meeting in San Jose, US,[23] Kutschera argued that

"The topic of evolution in Germany is in the hands of a small but powerful religious sect. But they are full of creationist nonsense." [24]

As a former member of the Giordano Bruno Foundation (gbs) and Scientific Advisor of the German branch of the Richard Dawkins Foundation (RDF-D),[25] Kutschera has defended biological evolution and humanistic naturalism against pseudoscientific claims.[26][27]

Ulrich Kutschera ranks among those academics in Germany who are restricted to lecture at state-sponsored universities in this country, due to his “politically incorrect” views on gender and other issues.[28][29] In a recent article entitled “Protecting Academic Freedom”, Dieter Schönecker wrote that “It is an intellectual catastrophe when contentious people like Ulrich Kutschera, Martin van Creveld, Jörg Baberowski or Rainer Wendt are no longer allowed to speak at a German university without the moral police from the ‘imperium paternale’ (Kant’s term for paternal government) being sent out on patrol.”[30]

Publications

Kutschera has published ca. 300 scientific papers,[17] many with co-authors from the US, such as Karl J. Niklas, Winslow R. Briggs,[7][31] and David A. Weisblat,[32] and ten books (in German). Since 2010, he is the producer of a series of science videos for biology students, inclusive of the piano background music,[33] see the Album Review of G. Lemco on KZSU-Stanford Radio.[34]

His academic textbook, Evolutionsbiologie(2015) [35] has been translated into Russian and Portuguese. Kutschera's book Tatsache Evolution[36] was a best-seller during the Year of Darwin 2009 (in Germany) and, like his monograph Das Gender-Paradoxon (2016), the subject of controversial reports and discussions.[37][28] In 2018, he published a critical analysis of the scientific validity of physiognomy, with reference to Darwin′s work on this topic.[29]

In January 2019, Kutschera’s Magnum Opus, the 712-pages textbook Physiologie der Pflanzen. Sensible Gewächse in Aktion was published. In a Book Review, Karl J. Niklas wrote that this volume, which provides a comprehensive summary of our current knowledge on the physiology and biochemistry of plants “… should be of value to general readers interested in the philosophy of science.”[38] A few weeks before the book became available, a religious webzine published an article dealing with “Plant Intelligence”, a topic that was discussed in detail in Kutschera’s textbook.[39]

References
  1. "Curriculum vitae." University of Kassel. Accessed 24 January 2013.
  2. "Winslow Briggs' Profile | Stanford Profiles". profiles.stanford.edu.
  3. Systems Biology Group, Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA
  4. I-Cultiver, Inc. Agriculture-Food-Health, Livermore CA 94550, USA
  5. "Über uns" Accessed August 10, 2018/.
  6. Luskin C. "New plant evolution paper misfires while debating the controversy that doesn't exist." Evolution News. 6 March 2008.
  7. In Memory of Winslow R. Briggs (1928-2019)
  8. "History of vdbiol" (PDF).
  9. "Corresponding members" Botanical Society of America.
  10. https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/prozess-wegen-volksverhetzung-gegen-professor-16222726.html
  11. https://www.queer.de/detail.php?article_id=36738
  12. https://www.hna.de/kassel/mitte-kassel-ort248256/prozess-kasseler-uni-professor-geplatzt-ngz-12355070.html
  13. https://www.hna.de/kassel/kasseler-uni-prof-gericht-maulkorb-verteidiger-12356895.html
  14. https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article166850002/Bemitleidenswerter-hasserfuellter-Mensch-Proteste-gegen-Professor.html
  15. https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/prozess-wegen-volksverhetzung-gegen-professor-16222726.html
  16. https://www.hna.de/kassel/kassel-uni-professor-provoziert-weiter-volksverhetzung-gericht-90011196.html
  17. Publications: U. Kutschera on NCBI/PubMed
  18. "researchgate U. Kutschera".
  19. "Home". www.hirudinea-lamarck1818.com.
  20. Kutschera, U. (December 1, 2009). "Darwin's Philosophical Imperative and the Furor Theologicus". Evolution: Education and Outreach. 2 (4): 688–694. doi:10.1007/s12052-009-0166-8.
  21. Numbers R. L. "The Creationists: from scientific creationism to intelligent design." Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2006.
  22. "Down with Darwinism." Cosmic Log, NBC News 16 February 2007.
  23. AAAS-meeting 2015 - Creationism in Germany American Association for the Advancement of Science, website.
  24. Science Communication Program - Interview 2015 by Nala Rogers.
  25. Richard Dawkins Foundation, website.
  26. "Intelligent design debate arrives in Germany." DW.de.
  27. "German scientists concerned about rise in creationist belief." DW.de.
  28. Kutschera, U. An evolutionary biologist dissects gender theory
  29. "MercatorNet: The two faces of physiognomy". MercatorNet.
  30. Protecting Academic Freedom., Philosophy Now 135, 1-6.
  31. "Winslow Briggs' Profile | Stanford Profiles". profiles.stanford.edu.
  32. Kutschera, U.; Langguth, H.; Kuo, D.-H.; Weisblat, D. A.; Shankland, M. (July 4, 2013). "Description of a new leech species from North America, Helobdella austinensis n. sp. (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae), with observations on its feeding behaviour". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 89 (2): 239–246. doi:10.1002/zoos.201300010.
  33. Composers/U. Kutschera, 2 February 2016.
  34. "Zookeeper Online". zookeeper.stanford.edu.
  35. Kutschera U. "Evolutionsbiologie", 4th edition, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2015.
  36. Kutschera U. "Tatsache Evolution", 3rd edition DTV, München 2010 ISBN 978-3-423-24707-8.
  37. Knoll A. "Tatsache Evolution. Was Darvin nicht wissen konnte." ScienceBlogs 8 May 2009 (German).
  38. "Niklas, K. J. (2019) Book Review: Historical roots and current status of plant physiology (Abstract)" (PDF).
  39. "MercatorNet: Are plants intelligent?". MercatorNet.
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