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Rama Shankar Singh

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki


  • Comment: In accordance with the Wikimedia Foundation's Terms of Use, I disclose that I have been paid to assist with this article. Heathermaughan (talk) 12:30, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Professor Rama Shankar Singh (geneticist)

Rama Shankar Singh (born March 2, 1945) is an evolutionary biologist and geneticist, and professor Emeritus at McMaster University. Born and brought up in a rural village in India in 1945, he received his early education in India, his master’s (1967) from Government Agriculture College, Kanpur (India), and his PhD from the University of California Davis (1972). He joined McMaster University as an assistant professor in 1975 and retired as a professor in 2023. He served as President of the Genetics Society of Canada (2005-07).

He made significant contributions to the refinement and use of the technique of electrophoresis to detect genetic variation.[1]. His lab at McMaster University became internationally known for demonstrating rapid evolution of sex and reproduction related genes and their role in evolution and speciation for which he was elected Fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2005[2].

He also tackled two long standing unsolved problems of evolutionary biology.

He showed that the evolution of human menopause is the result of male preference for younger females, which would lead to accumulation of deleterious mutations in older females affecting fertility; and that with delayed start of marriage and reproduction it might get delayed or even disappear altogether[3].

He showed that the evolution of the peacock’s long tail is the result of female preference for males not simply with beautiful tails but for bigger males - meaning tall trains[4].

As a promoter of peace, nonviolence and social justice, Singh founded the Annual Mahatma Gandhi Lectureship at McMaster University (1996), the Annual Mahatma Gandhi Peace Festival in the city of Hamilton (1994), and Mahila Shanti Sena, a women’s peace and development organization in India (2002). He has contributed many opinion pieces on topics of human diversity, peace, and social justice.

Early life and education

Born and brought up in the rural village of Dhakawa (Azamgarh district of India) in conditions of limited access to formal educational resources, his early life was impacted by post-independence communal riots, agricultural work, and community-based learning.  His upbringing in an agrarian environment shaped his scientific interests, particularly in agriculture, genetics, and the biological challenges associated with crop improvement during the Green Revolution.

He pursued higher education in agricultural sciences, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 1965 and a Master of Science in Genetics and Plant Breeding in 1967 from Government Agriculture College, Kanpur. He subsequently moved to the United States, where he earned a Ph.D. in Genetics with specialization in population genetics from the University of California, Davis in 1972.

He joined the University of Chicago as a post-doctoral fellow under the guidance of Richard Lewontin and later continued as a research associate at Harvard University from 1973 to 1975. In 1975, he joined the Department of Biology at McMaster University as an Assistant Professor, becoming Associate Professor in 1982 and full Professor in 1986. He retired in 2023 and is presently a Professor Emeritus.

Contribution to Science

Singh’s research spans molecular evolution, population genetics, and evolutionary biology.  During his post-doctoral years with Richard Lewontin he made significant contributions to the refinement and use of electrophoresis to detect hither to undetectable hidden variation in natural populations [1]. He contributed to the molecular basis of speciation, showing sex and reproduction related genes play important roles in speciation and evolve faster [5][6]. His lab showed sex genes evolve faster than non-sex genes [7][8][9][10][11], X-linked genes evolve faster than Autosomal genes [12], and male-biased genes evolve faster than female-biased genes [11], giving rise to the theory of male driven evolution [13].  

Singh has proposed a Law of complementarity between complexity and redundancy that provides a seamless and increasing level of flexibility between various levels of cellular organizations and that can explain Kant’s biological teleology and provide a basis for the unification of mechanistic and finalistic biology [14]. The law explains why redundancy is a problem for precision medicine [15] and why certain ailments are more common in men than in women[16].

Singh also made significant contribution to the resolution of two major unsolved problems of evolutionary biology.

He proposed mate choice theory and showed that human menopause was the result of the peculiar human mating system involving male preference for younger females, resulting in the accumulation of deleterious mutations affecting female fertility and giving rise to menopause [17]. He further proposed that menopause is still evolving and with selection for delayed reproduction it may get delayed or even disappear altogether [3][18]. The mate choice theory has received wide publicity in mainstream media[19][20][21][22][23]

He showed the developmental basis of the complexity and symmetry of the peacock’s long tail and proposed a solution to the problem posed by Darwin’s sexual selection theory: why females choose? He proposed that female choice is adaptive and females choose males on the basis of not beauty alone but also size and vigor, i.e., females chose bigger males or males with tall trains [4][24].  

Singh has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers[25], over 80 general articles, opinion pieces, news articles, and has authored or co-edited several books including three festschrift volumes in honor of Richard Lewontin published by Cambridge University Press[26][27][28][29][30]. These volumes, containing contributions from over 125 leading authors in the field, provide a review of population genetics, population biology, and history of biology. Major books of Singh’s include:

- Evolutionary Genetics: From Molecules to Morphology (co-edited with Costas Krimbas. 2000, Cambridge University Press)[6]

- Thinking About Evolution: Historical, Philosophical and Political Perspectives (co-edited with Costas Krimbas, Diane Paul, and John Beatty. 2001, Cambridge University Press)[31]

- The Evolution of Population Biology (2004, Cambridge University Press)[32]

- Rapidly Evolving Genes and Genetic Systems (2012, Oxford University Press)[33]

- Towards Universal Values for World Peace (Singh. 2024, Shubhi Publications, New Delhi)[34]

-The Paradox of Biology: complexity, redundancy and the evolution of health and human freedom (Singh. 2026, Springer Nature (in press).[35]

Community contributions

Singh has been actively involved in peacebuilding initiatives inspired by Gandhian philosophy and started several major initiatives with the help of the Indo-Canadian community:

He founded the Annual Mahatma Gandhi Lectureship[35] at McMaster University (endowed in 1996), raising over $250k. The lectureship brings academics and peace and human rights activists to deliver lectures on topics of local, national, or international importance at McMaster University and share them with the community. This is probably the first ever major lectureship anywhere made possible by small community donations.

He founded the Annual Mahatma Gandhi Peace Festival[36] in the city of Hamilton (1993) The festival is linked with the Gandhi Lectureship and is the longest running peace festival of its kind in Canada.

As a result of collaboration between McMaster University and the Indian organization Shrambharati (NGO, Patna, Bihar), Singh co-founded Mahila Shanti Sena[37], a women’s peace and development organization in India (2002). With funding from CIDA and AUCC, he was able to take many student interns from McMaster University to India to work with Mahila Shanti Sena women between 2004 and 2009.

He has contributed many news articles and opinion pieces on topics of human diversity, peace, and social justice.

Awards and honors

Singh has received numerous honors including election as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2006), Presidency of the Genetics Society of Canada (2005–2007), Genetics Society of Canada Award of Excellence (2010), World Citizenship Award of the city of Hamilton (2010), YMCA Canada Peace Medal (2001), and others.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Singh, R S; Lewontin, R C; Felton, A A (1976-11-29). "GENETIC HETEROGENEITY WITHIN ELECTROPHORETIC "ALLELES" OF XANTHINE DEHYDROGENASE IN DROSOPHILA PSEUDOOBSCURA". Genetics. 84 (3): 609–629. doi:10.1093/genetics/84.3.609. ISSN 1943-2631. PMC 1213598. PMID 1001881.
  2. ↑ "Elected Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)". American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wu, Katherine J. (2024-05-06). "A Fundamental Stage of Human Reproduction Is Shifting". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Singh, Rama Shankar (2025-08-18). "Size matters, but so does beauty and vigour — at least when it comes to peacocks". The Conversation. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  5. ↑ Singh, R. S. (December 1989). "POPULATION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION OF SPECIES RELATED TO DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER". Annual Review of Genetics. 23 (1): 425–453. doi:10.1146/annurev.ge.23.120189.002233. ISSN 0066-4197. PMID 2515792.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Singh, Rama Shankar; Krimbas, Costas B. (2000). Evolutionary genetics: from molecules to morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. ISBN 978-0-521-57123-4. Search this book on
  7. ↑ Coulthart, M. B.; Singh, R. S. (March 1988). "High level of divergence of male-reproductive-tract proteins, between Drosophila melanogaster and its sibling species, D. simulans". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 5 (2): 182–191. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040484. ISSN 1537-1719. PMID 3130539.
  8. ↑ Civetta, Alberto; Singh, RamaS. (December 1995). "High divergence of reproductive tract proteins and their association with postzygotic reproductive isolation in Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila virilis group species". Journal of Molecular Evolution. 41 (6): 1085–1095. Bibcode:1995JMolE..41.1085C. doi:10.1007/BF00173190. ISSN 0022-2844. PMID 8587107.
  9. ↑ Civetta, A.; Singh, R. S. (1998-07-01). "Sex-related genes, directional sexual selection, and speciation". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 15 (7): 901–909. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025994. ISSN 0737-4038. PMID 9656489.
  10. ↑ Torgerson, D. G. (2003-06-27). "Sex-Linked Mammalian Sperm Proteins Evolve Faster Than Autosomal Ones". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 20 (10): 1705–1709. doi:10.1093/molbev/msg193. ISSN 0737-4038. PMID 12832636.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Haerty, Wilfried; Jagadeeshan, Santosh; Kulathinal, Rob J; Wong, Alex; Ravi Ram, Kristipati; Sirot, Laura K; Levesque, Lisa; Artieri, Carlo G; Wolfner, Mariana F; Civetta, Alberto; Singh, Rama S (2007-11-01). "Evolution in the Fast Lane: Rapidly Evolving Sex-Related Genes in Drosophila". Genetics. 177 (3): 1321–1335. doi:10.1534/genetics.107.078865. ISSN 1943-2631. PMC 2147986. PMID 18039869.
  12. ↑ Torgerson, D G; Singh, R S (January 2006). "Enhanced adaptive evolution of sperm-expressed genes on the mammalian X chromosome". Heredity. 96 (1): 39–44. Bibcode:2006Hered..96...39T. doi:10.1038/sj.hdy.6800749. ISSN 0018-067X. PMID 16175195.
  13. ↑ Singh, Rama S.; Kulathinal, Rob J. (May 2005). "Male sex drive and the masculinization of the genome". BioEssays. 27 (5): 518–525. Bibcode:2005BiEss..27..518S. doi:10.1002/bies.20212. ISSN 0265-9247. PMID 15832384.
  14. ↑ Singh, Rama S. (June 2024). "A Concept of Complementarity Between Complexity and Redundancy can Account for Kant's Biological Teleology and Unify Mechanistic and Finalistic Biology". Journal of Molecular Evolution. 92 (3): 258–265. Bibcode:2024JMolE..92..258S. doi:10.1007/s00239-024-10169-w. ISSN 0022-2844. PMID 38662236 Check |pmid= value (help).
  15. ↑ Singh, Rama S. (October 2023). "A Law of Redundancy Compounds the Problem of Cancer and Precision Medicine". Journal of Molecular Evolution. 91 (5): 711–720. Bibcode:2023JMolE..91..711S. doi:10.1007/s00239-023-10131-2. ISSN 0022-2844. PMC 10597872 Check |pmc= value (help). PMID 37665357 Check |pmid= value (help).
  16. ↑ Peesker, Saira (Mar 4, 2021). "'Cells have memories': Why men get certain ailments more than women".
  17. ↑ Morton, Richard A.; Stone, Jonathan R.; Singh, Rama S. (2013-06-13). Tanaka, Mark M., ed. "Mate Choice and the Origin of Menopause". PLOS Computational Biology. 9 (6): e1003092. Bibcode:2013PLSCB...9E3092M. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003092. ISSN 1553-7358. PMC 3681637. PMID 23785268.
  18. ↑ Chan, Shirley; Gomes, Alyssa; Singh, Rama Shankar (December 2020). "Is menopause still evolving? Evidence from a longitudinal study of multiethnic populations and its relevance to women's health". BMC Women's Health. 20 (1). doi:10.1186/s12905-020-00932-8. ISSN 1472-6874. PMC 7168978 Check |pmc= value (help). PMID 32307019 Check |pmid= value (help). Unknown parameter |article-number= ignored (help)
  19. ↑ Association, Press (2013-06-13). "'Cradle snatchers' cause menopause, says biologist". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  20. ↑ "Menopause may have been caused by male's preference for younger women - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2013-06-14. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  21. ↑ Brown, Eryn (2013-06-13). "Did menopause arise because men prefer younger women?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  22. ↑ Haensch, Anna (2013-06-18). "How Men's Choice Of Mates May Have Led To Menopause". NPR. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  23. ↑ "Men 'to blame for the menopause'". BBC News. 2013-06-14. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  24. ↑ Singh, Rama; Jagadeeshan, Santosh (2025-05-06). "A long tail of truth and beauty: A zigzag pattern of feather formation determines the symmetry, complexity, and beauty of the peacock's tail". F1000Research. 13: 520. doi:10.12688/f1000research.149948.3. ISSN 2046-1402. PMC 12022539 Check |pmc= value (help). PMID 40291766 Check |pmid= value (help).
  25. ↑ "Rama Singh". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  26. ↑ Mitton, Jeffry B. (June 2001). "Evolutionary Genetics — From Molecules to Morphology". Heredity. 86 (6): 749. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2540.2001.0947a.x (inactive 17 July 2026). ISSN 1365-2540.
  27. ↑ Janzen, Fredric J. (September 2001). "Evolutionary Genetics: From Molecules to Morphology. R. S. Singh , C. B. Krimbas". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 76 (3): 351–352. doi:10.1086/394020.
  28. ↑ Jablonka, Eva (2001-07-07). "Book reviews". Heredity. 87 (1): 125–126. Bibcode:2001Hered..87Q.125J. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2540.2001.0962b.x.
  29. ↑ Joshi, N. V. (August 2002). "Thinking about evolution: Historical, philosophical, and political perspectives". Journal of Genetics. 81 (2): 87–89. doi:10.1007/BF02715904. ISSN 0022-1333.
  30. ↑ Carson, Hampton L (2005-03). "The Evolution of Population Biology . Edited by Rama S Singh and , Marcy K Uyenoyama. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press . $120.00. xxix + 460 p; ill.; index. ISBN: 0–521–81437–5. 2004". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 80 (1): 116–116. doi:10.1086/431066. ISSN 0033-5770. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ↑ Thinking about evolution: historical, philosophical, and political perspectives. New York: Cambridge university press. 2001. ISBN 978-0-521-62070-3. Search this book on
  32. ↑ Singh, Rama S.; Uyenoyama, Marcy K., eds. (2004-01-15). The Evolution of Population Biology (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511542619. ISBN 978-0-521-81437-9. Search this book on
  33. ↑ Singh, Rama S.; Xu, Jianping; Kulathinal, Rob J., eds. (2012-06-28). Rapidly Evolving Genes and Genetic Systems. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199642274.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-964227-4. Search this book on
  34. ↑ Singh, Rama (2024). Towards Universal Values for World Peace. Shubhi Publications, New Delhi. ISBN 978-8182905696. Search this book on
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 "Mahatma Gandhi Lectures – Centre for Global Peace, Justice and Health". Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  36. ↑ "Gandhi Peace Festival – Centre for Global Peace, Justice and Health". Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  37. ↑ "Mahila Shanti Sena (Women's Peace Corp) – Centre for Global Peace, Justice and Health". Retrieved 2026-07-17.


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