Thomas Hunt Morgan Was an Term Paper

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In 1910, Morgan publicly disagreed with the prevailing notion in embryology, that a fully-formed adult was already locked inside the ova or sperm cell. Rather, Morgan argued that there was no single chromosome that guaranteed the heredity of specific traits (Shine and Wrobel 1976).

Drosophila

In 1903, Morgan accepted the first professorship in experimental zoology at Columbia University. He moved his family to New York and began to work in genetics, fueled by his interest in the gaps in the work of Darwin and Mendel. During this time, scientist Hugo De Vries, a geneticist, revisited the work of Mendel and again proposed that new species were created as a result of mutations. Morgan then set out to prove De Vries' theory, using his now-famous Drosophila experiment.

Morgan used X-rays to mutate samples of Drosophila and cross-bred the mutants to regular samples. In 1910, Morgan found a male fly with white eyes, a mutation from the typical red eyes. However, after breeding the white-eyed fly with a red-eyed female, Morgan discovered that the resulting spawn all had red eyes. To Morgan, this suggested that the white-eye trait was a recessive trait. Later, Morgan found and tracked the results of other mutations, such as pink eyes and mutant wings (Shine and Wrobel 1976).

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These findings eventually formed the basis for Morgan's theories on genetic linkage. He believed that the mutant traits were carried in specific chromosomes and most likely, sex-linked. He later demonstrated that the genes identified by Mendel can be located in a chromosome map (Morgan 2002).

This paved the way for the eventual task of creating genetic maps for different species.

Recognition and continuing influence

Morgan received numerous accolades for his work, including the Nobel Prize in 1933. The University of Kentucky established the Thomas Hunt Morgan Schoolf of Biological Sciences in honor of its illustrious alumnus. The Genetics Society of America also named it highest award in Morgan's honor.

Perhaps more important, Morgan's work continues to form the foundation of genetic research. For example, Morgan's students from Columbia and later, from the California Institute of Technology, won their own Nobel Prizes. Morgan's legacy is best summed up in the words of fellow-Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel, who said that "Morgan's findings about genes and their location on chromosomes helped transform biology into an experimental science" (Kandel 1999).

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