What idea did Alfred Sturtevant propose that allowed for the mapping of genes on chromosomes?
One of Sturtevant’s principal contributions was his introduction of the concept that the frequency of crossing-over between two genes could help determine their proximity on a linear genetic map. His experiments determined that the frequency of double crossing over can be used to deduce gene order.
What did Alfred Sturtevant do?
Alfred Henry Sturtevant, (born Nov. 21, 1891, Jacksonville, Ill., U.S.—died April 5, 1970, Pasadena, Calif.), American geneticist who in 1913 developed a technique for mapping the location of specific genes of the chromosomes in the fruit fly Drosophila.
What was Sturtevant contribution to gene mapping?
Sturtevant helped lay the foundations of modern biology by mapping the relative location of a series of genes on a chromosome. Chromosomes are the long threads in the cell’s nucleus that had been discovered in the 1880s in cells undergoing division; however, their role in the process—if any—was unclear.
How did Sturtevant support Morgan’s results?
Using information about recombination established in the Morgan lab, in 1913 Sturtevant published research results that indicated that genes are arranged in a linear fashion along the chromosome. Previously, researchers had yet to describe how genes were arranged.
Who gave linkage?
In the early 1900s, William Bateson and R. C. Punnett were studying inheritance in the sweet pea.
Who gave gene mapping and what was the basis?
Yet Thomas Hunt Morgan did exactly this and in the process made gene mapping possible. In 1911, while studying the chromosome theory of heredity, biologist Thomas Hunt Morgan had a major breakthrough. Morgan occasionally noticed that “linked” traits would separate.
How did Alfred Sturtevant make the genetic linkage map?
Which brings us, at long last, to Morgan’s grad student Alfred Sturtevant. Sturtevant realized that if a given chromosome was the same length in all flies, and if genes had specific physical locations on it, the “distance” between any two genes should be a fixed number—and one that he could measure by how often they were inherited together.
When did Alfred Sturtevant create the first chromosome?
Alfred Henry Sturtevant (November 21, 1891 – April 5, 1970) was an American geneticist. Sturtevant constructed the first genetic map of a chromosome in 1913.
Where did Alfred Sturtevant do most of his research?
After earning his doctorate, Sturtevant stayed at Columbia as a research investigator for the Carnegie Institution of Washington. He joined Morgan’s research team in the “fly room”, in which huge advances were being made in the study of genetics through studies of the fruit fly Drosophila.
What was the name of the first genetic linkage map?
Sturtevant came with Morgan as part of the deal, and his maps of genetic linkages remain the gold standard today—although the unit of measure he invented is now, ironically, called the centimorgan. Both men spent the balance of their careers here, ushering in the first golden era of molecular biology.