Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance
Chromosomal Basis
of Inheritance
In sexually reproducing organisms, special sex cells, or gametes (ova and sperm), are responsible for providing the genetic information to the offspring. A scientific explanation of genetic principles required a study of germ cells and their behavior, which meant working backward from certain visible results of inheritance to the mechanism responsible for such results. The nuclei of sex cells, especially the chromosomes, were early suspected of furnishing the real answer to the mechanism. Chromosomes are apparently the only entities inherited in equal quantities from both parents to offspring.
When Mendel’s laws were rediscovered in 1900, their parallelism with the cytological behavior of the chromosomes was obvious. Later experiments showed that the chromosomes carried the hereditary material.
In sexually reproducing organisms, special sex cells, or gametes (ova and sperm), are responsible for providing the genetic information to the offspring. A scientific explanation of genetic principles required a study of germ cells and their behavior, which meant working backward from certain visible results of inheritance to the mechanism responsible for such results. The nuclei of sex cells, especially the chromosomes, were early suspected of furnishing the real answer to the mechanism. Chromosomes are apparently the only entities inherited in equal quantities from both parents to offspring.
When Mendel’s laws were rediscovered in 1900, their parallelism with the cytological behavior of the chromosomes was obvious. Later experiments showed that the chromosomes carried the hereditary material.
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