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Genetics

Life Sciences

Genetics is the branch of biology that studies genes, heredity, and variation in living things. It grew rapidly after the rediscovery, around 1900, of Gregor Mendel's earlier work on inheritance in pea plants.

Facts
Founded Year
1905 1
The biologist William Bateson coined the term genetics in an April 1905 letter to Adam Sedgwick, then used it publicly the following year.
Central Question
How much of a heritable trait's variation is caused by genes rather than environment, and how does that balance shift across different populations and settings? 2
Scope
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation and heredity in organisms, and a central branch of biology because heredity is vital to evolution. 2
Significance
An important branch of biology, because heredity is vital to how organisms evolve. 2
Connections

Founded By

Mendel's 1865 to 1866 pea experiments are the field's intellectual origin, though the name genetics itself was coined later, by William Bateson in 1905, the year recorded elsewhere as when the field was founded.

Source Wikipedia: Genetics

Has Scientist

Source Alfred Hershey (Britannica)
Source Barbara McClintock, Facts (Nobel Prize)
Source David Botstein (Wikipedia)
Source Franklin Stahl (Britannica)
Source Gregor Mendel (Britannica)
Source Martha Chase (Britannica)
Mary Lyon, Scientists
Source Mary F. Lyon (Wikipedia)
Source Matthew Meselson (Britannica)
Source Maurice Wilkins (Britannica)

Has Theory

Studies

Source William Bateson Coins the Term Genetics

Uses

Gel electrophoresis separates DNA, RNA or protein fragments by size under an electric field, a routine bench instrument of genetics.

Source Polymerase Chain Reaction (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. William Bateson Coins the Term Genetics
HistoryofInformation.com (Jeremy Norman & Co.)
  • Timeline entry, 1900 to 1902
    Bateson first used the term genetics publicly at the Third International Conference on Plant Hybridization in London in 1906.
  • Part Of: Biology
  • Studies: Central Dogma of Molecular Biology
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Genetics
Wikipedia
  • Introduction
    It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution.
  • Founded By: Gregor Mendel
View the Source
Gregor Mendel (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaHas Scientist: Gregor MendelView the Source
Barbara McClintock, Facts (Nobel Prize)
NobelPrize.orgHas Scientist: Barbara McClintockView the Source
Polymerase Chain Reaction (Wikipedia)
WikipediaUses: Thermal CyclerView the Source
Genomics (Wikipedia)
WikipediaEncompasses: Genomics, Lead sectionView the Source
David Botstein (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: David BotsteinView the Source
Mary F. Lyon (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Mary Lyon, Lead section, first sentence
Quote, Has Scientist: Mary Lyon, Lead section, first sentence
Mary Frances Lyon (15 May 1925 - 25 December 2014) was an English geneticist best known for her discovery of X-chromosome inactivation, an important biological phenomenon.
View the Source
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