Biologist Scott Gilbert Brings 
Origin of Life Discussion to Vatican

by Stacey Kutish
2/05/09

Scott Gilbert

In late 2007, Howard A. Schneiderman Professor of Biology Scott Gilbert discussed the beginning of life with the leaders of the Catholic Church. At that time, he was one of about 20 speakers to address a conference organized by the Vatican to help bridge gaps between religion and science - and the only one to suggest that very early embryos were not equivalent to human beings. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, "That led to lots of yelling and gesticulating in Italian, not all of which could be translated for him." more

Gilbert, the author of the bestselling textbook Developmental Biology (2000), will return to Rome next month to continue the dialogue with church leaders.  He joined Swarthmore's faculty in 1980 and teaches developmental genetics, embryology, and the history of biology.