Five Famous Geneticists

Gregor Johann Mendel

1822 – 1884(aged 62)

In 1856 he began an experiment with pea plants to aim of determining traits. 10 years later, he published Experiments in Plant Hybribdisation which formalized the Mendelian laws of inheritance: the law of independent assortment, the law of independent segregation, and the law of dominance. Mendel’s laws explain how most organisms pass their characteristics from one generation to the next. Unfortunately, his work was not framed at his life time but in 1900 it was rediscovered and formed the foundation of the modern science of genetics.

Johannes Friedrich Miescher

1844 - 1895 (aged 51)

His discovery of a substance, first named nuclein which is known as a nucleic acid now, in 1869 at Felix Hoppe-Seyler’s laboratory at the University of Tubingen, Germany contributed to the field of Genetics. He succeeded to isolate phosphorus and nitrogen from nuclei of white blood cells in pus. His first published in 1871, was not apparent at first until Albrecht Kossel carried out research on the chemical structure of nuclein. Even though he could not find out the function of the nucleic acid, it became the significant discovery in the identification of nucleic acids as the carriers of inheritance.

Thomas Hunt Morgan

1866 - 1945(aged 79)

                  In 1907, he began his experiments with fruit flies to establish the chromosomal theory of heredity. His discover of the role of chromosome in heredity made him to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1933. His experiment rediscovered Mendelian inheritance. Furthermore, his research moved to the study of mutation. It is the first form of modern science of genetics. He wrote 22 books and 370 scientific papers including The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity in 1915, Evolution and Genetics in 1925, and The Theory of the Gene in 1926.

Frederick Griffith

1879 – 1941 (aged 62)

                  His discovery which is known as Griffith’s Experiment in 1927, in London, at the Ministry of Health, demonstrated bacterial transformation. He used two strains; one was harmless and the other one was pathogenic. Even though heated strain was injected to a mouse with harmless strain, the mouse died and pathogenic strain was found in the mouse’s blood. It is published in 1928 and accepted widely to prove that bacterium can distinctly change its form and function. His finding proves the existence of DNA as a genetic role.

Rosalind Elsie Franklin

1920 - 1958 (aged 37)

                  Her contributions to Genetics are the understanding of molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite. X-ray diffraction images of DNA contributed to Crick and Watson for formulating the structure of DNA. Even though her research was not published, she had already had an idea about the overall B-form of the DNA helix. Unfortunately, her work was published third then referred as evidence in support Crick and Watson’s hypothesis. Until Watson wrote his personal account, The Double Helix, in 1968, Franklin’s efforts was not revealed.