Douglas Scott Falconer Explained

Honorific Suffix:FRS FRSE
Douglas Scott Falconer
Birth Date:10 March 1913
Birth Place:Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Death Place:Edinburgh, Scotland
Fields:Quantitative genetics
Genetic epidemiology
Workplaces:University of Edinburgh
Education:University of St Andrews
University of Cambridge, Ph.D. 1943 (Honorary Sc.D., 1969)
Alma Mater:University of St Andrews
King's College, Cambridge
Doctoral Advisor:James Gray
Known For:Falconer's formula
his book Introduction to quantitative genetics

Douglas Scott Falconer (10 March 1913 in Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire – 23 February 2004 in Edinburgh)[1] was a Scottish geneticist known for his work in quantitative genetics.[2] Falconer's book Introduction to quantitative genetics was written in 1960 and became a valuable reference for generations of scientists. Its latest edition dates back to 1996 and is coauthored by Trudy Mackay.[3]

Falconer graduated with first class honors in zoology from the University of St Andrews in 1940. He then received his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1943. He eventually got an honorary ScD from Cambridge in 1969.[4] [5]

In 1951, Falconer described a novel mouse mutant that he called reeler for its peculiar gait.[6] Later research using these mice has led to the discovery of reelin, a protein playing important roles in corticogenesis, neuronal migration, and plasticity.

In 1964, he introduced the use of liability threshold models into human disease & trait modeling.[7] [8]

In 1973, he was announced as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).[9]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Bowman . J. C. . 10.1098/rsbm.2005.0008 . Douglas Scott Falconer. 10 March 1913 – 23 February 2004: Elected F.R.S. 1973 . . 51 . 119 . 2005 .
  2. MacKay . T. F. C. . Douglas Scott Falconer (1913–2004) . 10.1038/sj.hdy.6800506 . Heredity . 93 . 2 . 119–121 . 2004 . 15241449 . free .
  3. Hill . W. G. . MacKay . T. F. . D. S. Falconer and Introduction to quantitative genetics . Genetics . 167 . 4 . 1529–1536 . 2004 . 10.1093/genetics/167.4.1529 . 15342495 . 1471025.
  4. Web site: April 9, 2004. Douglas Falconer. live. 2021-06-26. www.scotsman.com. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20210626103656/https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/douglas-falconer-2469161 . 26 June 2021 .
  5. Web site: Kennedy.
  6. Falconer . D. S. . Two new mutants, 'trembler' and 'reeler', with neurological actions in the house mouse (Mus musculus L.) . 10.1007/BF02996215 . Journal of Genetics . 50 . 2 . 192–205 . 1951 . 24539699. 37918631 .
  7. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/182368464/1965-falconer.pdf "The inheritance of liability to certain diseases, estimated from the incidence among relatives"
  8. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/182368464/1967-falconer.pdf "The inheritance of liability to diseases with variable age of onset, with particular reference to diabetes mellitus"
  9. News: Professors elected FRS . The Glasgow Herald. 16 March 1973 . 28 . 19 December 2018.