Thomas Hunt Morgan

Thomas Hunt Morgan was an American geneticist whose fruit-fly experiments established that genes occupy chromosomes and helped make genetics an experimental science.

Drosophila melanogaster: A fruit fly widely used as a model organism in genetics and developmental biology. Morgan used this fly’s short generation time and visible mutations to track inheritance.
Columbia University: A private research university in New York City, founded in 1754. Morgan conducted his landmark Drosophila research there.
Alfred Sturtevant: An American geneticist who created the first genetic map using recombination frequencies. Morgan’s student converted linkage data into a linear map of genes.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: An annual international award recognizing major discoveries in physiology or medicine. Morgan received the 1933 prize for discoveries concerning the role of chromosomes in heredity.
White-eyed mutant: A Drosophila melanogaster mutant whose eyes lack the usual red pigment. Its inheritance revealed that the eye-color gene was linked to the X chromosome.
Fly Room: The crowded Columbia University laboratory where Morgan and colleagues studied fruit-fly genetics. This small laboratory became the setting for Morgan’s collaborative research program.
Hermann Joseph Muller: An American geneticist who showed that X-rays can induce mutations. His work extended Morgan’s fruit-fly genetics into experimental mutation research.
Gene mapping: The process of determining the positions and distances of genes on chromosomes. Morgan’s group established that recombination frequencies could reveal gene order.
Sex-linked inheritance: Inheritance of traits controlled by genes on sex chromosomes. Morgan’s white-eye crosses showed why the trait appeared differently in males and females.
Experimental embryology: The study of development through controlled manipulation of embryos and their conditions. Morgan began as an embryologist before shifting toward heredity and fruit flies.

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