Cytogenetics / edited by Ronald L. Phillips, Charles R. Burnham.

Date:
[1977], ©1977
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Credit: Cytogenetics / edited by Ronald L. Phillips, Charles R. Burnham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    23/520 (page 1)
    III Part I Chromosome Individuality, Morphology, Structure, and Number HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES Although scientists did not tecognize the importance of Men¬ del's discovery published in 1866, until 1900, cytologists made a succession of discoveries during that time that laid the foundation for the chromosome theory of heredity (see Babcock 1949, Sharp, 1934). These discoveries included: 1. In 1875 Strasburger first adequately described the densely staining bodies in the nucleus. The term chromosome was not proposed until 1888 when Waideyer first used it. 2. Schneider (1873), Butschli (1875a, b), and others described the true nature of mitosis, emphasizing that cells derive from pre¬ viously existing cells through a complicated division process that includes the longitudinal splitting of the chromosomes (Flemming 1879-1881). 3. By 1884 chromosome numbers had been shown to be constant in a species. 4. Fertilization was found to involve the fusion of a nucleus from an egg and a sperm (O. Hertwig 1875-1878 and others). 5. Chromosome continuity in successive cell divisions along with the role of fertilization and cell division in inheritance were recognized (Boveri 1889). 6. Pairs of meiotic chromosomes were understood as comprised of corresponding members of paternal and maternal origin (Roux 1883; Boveri 1889; Weismann 1887). 1