Name That Awesome Scientist: Sir Cyril Astley Clarke!

Last week I challenged people to identify the individual in this image:

Obviously not a memorable face then!

I got various answers on Twitter and Facebook, and even caught someone fishing for answers on a forum (very naughty, I’m watching you). I got some fantastic answers sent in. Some were very intelligent guesses, others were just hilarious. Some people suggested respected scientists such as Ernst Mary and Karl Landsteiner, while others went with musicians and film stars. Personally, my favourite answer was “the dad from chitty chitty bang bang”. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the correct answer.

The image above is a photograph of Sir Cyril Astley Clarke (1907-2000), and for those who don’t know, he was a geneticist, lepidopterist and physician from the UK. The awards he received throughout his lifetime should give an indication of how important his work has been. In 1969 he was awarded with the CBE title (Commander of the British Empire), and a year later he joined the Fellows of the Royal Society. In 1974 he was Knighted, and in 1977 he received the Gairdner Foundation International Award, for his astounding contributions to medical science. In the early 80s he was given the Lasker Award and the Linnean Medal (from the Linnean Society of London). In 1990 he received the Buchanan Medal from the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge.

So, quite a few acceptance speaches in there then. But why? How important was the life of a physician with an interest in butterflies? Well, I’ll start by letting you know that his work saved lives. There are people alive today, who may not have been if it weren’t for Clarke. It’s been estimated that his work has saved approximately a million lives. How many people do you know that have saved a million lives?

Back in the 50s, Rh disease was a very serious problem. This disease occurs when an Rh-positive child is produced by an Rh-positive father and an Rh-negative mother. If blood from the fetus leaks out and enters the blood of the mother, Rh antibodies are produced and they kill the red blood cells of the Rh-positive fetus. Back then, the mechanics weren’t fully understood, and there was no cure or prevention. The fetus would be attacked by the mother’s own defenses, and the fetus would die.

At the time, Clarke worked as a physician, encountering the types of problems physicians may expect to encounter, but he was also a passionate lepidopterist. Clarke was interested in the evolution of mimicry in butterflies, specifically the wing colours and patterns of the swallowtail butterflies (Papilionida). Clarke caught the attention of other butterfly enthusiasts when he perfected a technique for hand-mating butterflies. This was a major breakthrough in lepidopterology, and allowed scientists and breeders to create hybrids that would previously have been impossible to produce. One scientist who was extremely impressed was the geneticist Philip Sheppard. In the early 50s, together they studied the genetics behind the mimicry in these butterflies. They discovered that a “supergene” controlled the pattern and wing colour in these butterflies. A supergene is a cluster of individual genes that collectively behave as one single gene. They are inherited together. Clarke also noted that only the females would show these patterns, despite the fact that males also had the supergene.

While studying the evolution and genetics of these butterflies, he began to realise that it all seemed a bit familiar. The inheritance of the wing patterns reminded him of what he was seeing in the human blood types. The inheritance seemed very similar. This got him thinking about those Rhesus babies, and what could be done to cure or prevent these deaths. He needed a way to prevent the mother’s anitbodies from destroying the fetus. He took what he knew from studying the evolution and genetics of the butterflies, and tried to use this information to learn more about how Rd disease comes about. Clarke and his team of researchers were making great progress and learning more and more about the blood groups and Rh disease, but it actually took a suggestion from Clarke’s wife to make what has been regarded as one of the most important breakthroughs ever in preventive medicine. As mad as it sounds, she suggested injecting the mothers with Rh-antibodies, the very things that are causing the problem and killing the fetus! There is method in this madness though. Imagine some Rh-positive blood does leak through the placenta and into the blood of the mother. If delivered at the right time, the injected Rh-antibodies would destroy those Rh-positive cells and get rid of them before the mother’s own defenses even had a chance to react. Essentially, the injection would manually get rid of the problem so that the mother’s antibody machinery doesn’t need to, and therefore stops the mother’s antibodies from attacking the fetus.

His wife’s seemingly wild suggestion, combined with Clarke’s study of the Rhesus blood system and the evolution of butterflies, led to an incredible breakthrough. Clarke and his colleagues made their research and preventive procedure public in 1964. Over the last half a century, thousands of women have received these injections. The condition is now preventable, thanks to scientists, doctors, and even the wing patterns of butterflies. As I mentioned earlier, it has been estimated that this work has saved approximately one million lives since the preventive treatment was introduced. This is a fantastic example of science aiding our knowledge and providing superb practical applications.

As a side note, it makes me wonder how many lives have been saved by creationist “science”. Actually, it makes me wonder if any practical applications have come about from such “research”. Studying evolution, butterflies and blood groups saved a million lives. Real science for the win.

Anyway, nobody guessed correctly. So I guess that means I win. Maybe I’ll go for something other than a photo next time.