Robert Heath Lock and His Textbook of Genetics, 1906

Edwards, A. W. F.

doi:10.1534/genetics.113.151266

“…According to the canonical history of genetics, it was the American geneticist T. H. Morgan who was the first to propose in 1910 this extension of the chromosome theory (Morgan 1910(Morgan , 1917. Recent studies on the history of genetics (Edwards 2013), however, show that, most likely, Morgan was influenced by the first textbook of genetics in English written by R. H. Lock, a British botanist associated with Bateson and Punnet, published in 1906, where the possibility that linkage might result from genes lying on the same chromosome was first suggested (Lock 1906). Thus, it is Lock to whom the credit of explaining linkage must be given.…”

Section: The Classical Period Of Geneticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolving Definition of the Term “Gene”

Portin

¹

,

Wilkins

²

2017

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This paper presents a history of the changing meanings of the term "gene," over more than a century, and a discussion of why this word, so crucial to genetics, needs redefinition today. In this account, the first two phases of 20th century genetics are designated the "classical" and the "neoclassical" periods, and the current molecular-genetic era the "modern period." While the first two stages generated increasing clarity about the nature of the gene, the present period features complexity and confusion. Initially, the term "gene" was coined to denote an abstract "unit of inheritance," to which no specific material attributes were assigned. As the classical and neoclassical periods unfolded, the term became more concrete, first as a dimensionless point on a chromosome, then as a linear segment within a chromosome, and finally as a linear segment in the DNA molecule that encodes a polypeptide chain. This last definition, from the early 1960s, remains the one employed today, but developments since the 1970s have undermined its generality. Indeed, they raise questions about both the utility of the concept of a basic "unit of inheritance" and the long implicit belief that genes are autonomous agents. Here, we review findings that have made the classic molecular definition obsolete and propose a new one based on contemporary knowledge.

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“…degrees of genetic linkage), lacked a satisfactory explanation, until resolved in the 'fly lab' of Thomas Hunt Morgan. 27 An overt source of political controversy was eugenics, and the views of those deemed knowledgeable in genetics were much sought after. Bateson in 1905 had pondered: What … will happen when … enlightenment actually comes to pass and the facts of heredity are … commonly known?…”

Section: Bateson Lost the Political Battlementioning

confidence: 99%

The relative roles of politics and science: William Bateson, black slavery, eugenics and speciation

Forsdyke

¹

2014

Preprint

0

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SUMMARYWilliam Bateson's background and training suggest sympathy with the black emancipation movement. Yet the movement's success is attributed more to battles between political figures, than between scientists with contending views on the biology of racial differences. Perhaps, in the long term, Bateson's contributions to slavery and eugenic issues will be seen as no less important than those of politicians. Mendel's discovery of what we now know as "genes" languished until seized upon by Bateson in 1900. For six exhausting years he struggled to win scientific acceptance of these biological character-determining units. Later, he pressed the Mendelian message home to the general public, opposing simplistic applications of Mendelian principles to human affairs, and arguing that minor genic differences that distinguished racese.g. skin colour -can seldom initiate new species. Indeed, the spark that initiates a divergence into two species can be non-genic. We are one reproductively isolated population, the human species.

show abstract

“…27 An overt source of political controversy was eugenics, and the views of those deemed knowledgeable in genetics were much sought after. Bateson in 1905 had pondered:…”

Section: Bateson Lost the Political Battlementioning

confidence: 99%

The relative roles of politics and science: William Bateson, black slavery, eugenics and speciation

Forsdyke

¹

2014

Preprint

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARYWilliam Bateson's background and training suggest sympathy with the black emancipation movement. Yet the movement's success is attributed more to battles between political figures, than between scientists with contending views on the biology of racial differences. Perhaps, in the long term, Bateson's contributions to slavery and eugenic issues will be seen as no less important than those of politicians. Mendel's discovery of what we now know as "genes" languished until seized upon by Bateson in 1900. For six exhausting years he struggled to win scientific acceptance of these biological character-determining units. Later, he pressed the Mendelian message home to the general public, opposing simplistic applications of Mendelian principles to human affairs, and arguing that minor genic differences that distinguished racese.g. skin colour -can seldom initiate new species. Indeed, the spark that initiates a divergence into two species can be non-genic. We are one reproductively isolated population, the human species.

show abstract

Robert Heath Lock and His Textbook of Genetics, 1906

Cited by 10 publications

References 34 publications

The Evolving Definition of the Term “Gene”

The Evolving Definition of the Term “Gene”

The relative roles of politics and science: William Bateson, black slavery, eugenics and speciation

The relative roles of politics and science: William Bateson, black slavery, eugenics and speciation

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