Science Common Sense
1436 - How did the theory of genetic chromosomes develop?
The theory of genetic chromosomes developed over time with discoveries by several scientists. Here's a brief and concise overview:
Walter Flemming (1882): Flemming discovered chromosomes when he was studying cells under a microscope. He saw they were thread-like structures.
Theodor Boveri and Walter Sutton (1900s): Boveri and Sutton found out that the number of chromosomes is always the same in an animal or plant's cells. They also discovered that chromosomes carry genetic information (traits) from parents to their offspring.
Thomas Hunt Morgan (1910s): Morgan worked with fruit flies and discovered that genes (traits) are linked together on chromosomes. He also found out how genes on the same chromosome can be inherited together.
Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, and Francis Crick (1950s): Franklin took an X-ray picture of DNA (the molecule that chromosomes are made of), which helped Watson and Crick figure out the structure of DNA. It looks like a twisted ladder, which is important for how genetic information is stored and passed on.
Many more scientists, over the years, built on these discoveries and learned more about chromosomes and how they carry genetic information.
So, it was a team effort by many scientists that helped us understand how chromosomes work and how genetic traits are passed from one generation to the next.