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Alfred Henry Sturtevant (November 21, 1891 – April 5, 1970) was an American geneticist. Sturtevant constructed the first genetic map of a chromosome in 1911. Throughout his career he worked on the organism Drosophila melanogaster with Thomas Hunt Morgan. By watching the development of flies in which the earliest cell division produced two different genomes, he measured the embryonic distance between organs in a unit which is called the sturt in his honor. On February 13, 1968, Sturtevant received the 1967 National Medal of Science from President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Biography

Alfred Henry Sturtevant was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, United States on November 21, 1891, the youngest of Alfred Henry and Harriet Sturtevant's six children. His grandfather Julian Monson Sturtevant, a Yale University graduate, was a founding professor and second president of Illinois College, where his father taught mathematics.

When Sturtevant was seven years old, his father quit his teaching job and moved the family to Alabama to pursue farming. Sturtevant attended a one-room schoolhouse until entering high school in Mobile. In 1908, he enrolled at Columbia University. During this time, he lived with his older brother Edgar, a linguist, who taught nearby. Edgar taught Alfred about scholarship and research.

As a child, Sturtevant had created pedigrees of his father's horses. While in college, he read about Mendelism, which piqued Sturtevant's interest because it could explain the traits expressed in the horse pedigrees. He further pursued his interest in genetics under Thomas Hunt Morgan, who encouraged him to publish a paper of his pedigrees shown through Mendelian genetics. In 1914, Sturtevant completed his doctoral work under Morgan as well.

After earning his doctorate, Sturtevant stayed at Columbia as a research investigator for the Carnegie Institution of Washington. He joined Morgan's research team in the "fly room", in which huge advances were being made in the study of genetics through studies of the fruit fly Drosophila. In 1922, he married Phoebe Curtis Reed, and the couple subsequently had three children, the eldest of whom was William C. Sturtevant.

In 1928, Sturtevant moved to Pasadena to work at the California Institute of Technology, where he became a Professor of Genetics and remained for the rest of his career, except for one year when he was invited to teach in Europe. He taught an undergraduate course in genetics at Caltech and wrote a textbook with George Beadle. He became the leader of a new genetics research group at Caltech, whose members included George W. Beadle, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Sterling Emerson, and Jack Schultz. He was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1930 and the American Philosophical Society in 1936. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1949. Sturtevant was awarded the John J. Carty Award from the National Academy of Sciences in 1965 . On February 13, 1968, he received the 1967 National Medal of Science "For a long and distinguished career in genetics during which he discovered and interpreted a number of important genetic phenomena in Drosophila and other organisms."

Sturtevant was interested in taxonomy as well as genetics. He loved solving all kinds of puzzles and saw genetics as a puzzle for him to decipher. He was widely read, interested in politics, newspapers, scientific journals across many subjects and crossword puzzles. He had an impressive memory and composed and edited papers in his head before writing them down from memory. He enjoyed a long and prosperous career in genetics until his death on April 5, 1970. He died in Pasadena, California at the age of 78.

Historical context

Sturtevant accomplished most of his work between 1910 and World War II. These years saw both World War I and the Great Depression. Prior to World War II, universities and research programs operated under private donations; the federal government was not very involved in the funding of scientific research. Much research prior to World War II concerned the chemical nature of heredity. World War II changed the course of science. Focus was shifted away from biology and genetics to nuclear chemistry and physics. During and after World War II, the government became the key financial backer of scientific research, in the hopes that funding basic research would lead to technological advances. In this same time frame, Sturtevant was an outspoken opponent of eugenics and was interested in the effects of the atomic bomb on human populations, due to his previous research on lethal genes. He warned the public of possible harmful genetic effects of nuclear fallout despite supposedly low levels of ionizing radiation.

Genetic research prior to Sturtevant

In 1865, Gregor Mendel published a paper entitled “Experiments in Plant Hybridization,” in which he proposed the principles of heredity. This paper introduced the concept of dominant and recessive genes to explain how a characteristic can be repressed in one generation but appear in the next generation. Mendel also assumed that all hereditary factors worked independently of one another, which he explained in his law of independent assortment. Mendel's paper did not achieve much acclaim and was largely forgotten until 1900.

1865 to 1900 saw a time of theory formulation in the field of heredity/genetics. In 1883, Wilhelm Roux argued that the linear structure of chromosomes has an impact of making sure daughter cells get equal amounts of chromosomal material. This was the beginning of the chromosome theory; Roux viewed his findings as argument that chromosomes contain units of heredity. During this time frame, Hugo de Vries put forth a theory that persistent hereditary units are passed through generations and that each “unit” deals with a specific characteristic and the units can combine in different ways in the offspring.

From 1900 to 1909, anomalous data began to accumulate. Gene linkage was first reported by Carl Correns in 1900, contradicting Mendel's law of independent assortment. Thomas Hunt Morgan was the first to provide a working hypothesis for these exceptions. He postulated that genes that remained together while being passed from generation to generation must be located on the same chromosome.

Sturtevant's work and its importance

Sturtevant's most notable discoveries include the principle of genetic mapping, chromosomal inversion, the first observation of a single gene mutation affecting behavior, the first reparable gene defect, the principle underlying fate mapping, the phenomena of unequal crossing-over, and position effect. His main contributions to science include his analysis of genetic “linkage groups,” which became a classical method of chromosome mapping that we still use today. In 1913, he determined that genes were arranged on chromosomes in a linear fashion, like beads on a necklace. He also showed that the gene for any specific trait was in a fixed location (locus).

In his work between 1915 and 1928, Sturtevant determined that genes of Drosophila are arranged in linear order. In 1920, he published a set of three papers under the title “Genetic Studies on Drosophila simulans,” which “proved that two closely related species had newly recurring mutations that were allelic and thus probably identical”. His work also helped to determine the chromosomal basis of sex determination and development and described the importance of chromosomal crossing-over or recombination in genetic linkage of traits.

One of Sturtevant's principal contributions was his introduction of the concept that the frequency of crossing-over between two genes could help determine their proximity on a linear genetic map. His experiments determined that the frequency of double crossing over can be used to deduce gene order. He demonstrated this concept by constructing crosses of three segregating genes, called "three-factor crosses". He found that using three genes as opposed to two provided most accurate information about gene order on chromosome. With this system, Sturtevant discovered that double crossing-over occurs at frequency of equal to or less than the product of two single crossing over frequencies. He also demonstrated the possibility of "unequal crossing-over" and speculated that it was possibly a main force of evolution.

Sturtevant's work on the Drosophila genome enabled geneticists to further map chromosomes of higher organisms, including human beings. His former Caltech research partner George Beadle claimed that modern biochemical genetics stems directly from Sturtevant's work.

Key publications

See Scholia for some of his publications.

• Sturtevant, A. H. (1913). "The linear arrangement of six sex-linked factors in Drosophila, as shown by their mode of association" (PDF). Journal of Experimental Zoology. 14 (1): 43–59. Bibcode:1913JEZ....14...43S. doi:10.1002/jez.1400140104. S2CID 82583173.
• Sturtevant, A. H. (1921). The North American species of Drosophila. Carnegie institution of Washington. Publicationno. 301. The Carnegie institution of Washington.
• Sturtevant, Alfred Henry; Beadle, G. W. (1939). An introduction to genetics. Philadelphia, London: W.B. Saunders company. Reprinted 1962, 1988.
• Sturtevant, Alfred H. (1965). A History of Genetics. New York: Harper & Row., Reprinted, 2001.
• Sturtevant, A. H. (1961). Lewis, E. B. (ed.). Genetics and evolution, selected papers of A. H. Sturtevant. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.

Students

• Edward B. Lewis
• Alfred G. Knudson

References

1. ^ "Remarks Upon Presenting the 1967 National Medal of Science Awards | The American Presidency Project". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
2. ^ Emerson, Sterling (December 1971). "Alfred Henry Sturtevant (November 21, 1891-April 6, 1970)". Annual Review of Genetics. 5 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1146/annurev.ge.05.120171.000245. ISSN 0066-4197. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
3. ^ "Dr. Alfred Sturtevant, 78, Dies; Geneticist Won U.S. Medal". The New York Times. 7 April 1970. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
4. ^ Lewis, Edward B. (1998). "Alfred Henry Sturtevant 1891—1970". Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (PDF). Vol. 73. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
5. Allen, Garland E. (1975). "The Introduction of Drosophila into the Study of Heredity and Evolution: 1900-1910". Isis. 66 (3): 322–333. doi:10.1086/351472. ISSN 0021-1753. JSTOR 228840. PMID 809381. S2CID 44463106.
6. Strauss, Bernard S (1 May 2016). "Biochemical Genetics and Molecular Biology: The Contributions of George Beadle and Edward Tatum". Genetics. 203 (1): 13–20. doi:10.1534/genetics.116.188995. PMC 4858768. PMID 27183563.
7. "Alfred Sturtevant". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
8. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
9. "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter S" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
10. "John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on December 29, 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
11. Lassman, Thomas C. (March 2005). "Government Science in Postwar America: Henry A. Wallace, Edward U. Condon, and the Transformation of the National Bureau of Standards, 1945–1951". Isis. 96 (1): 25–51. doi:10.1086/430676. ISSN 0021-1753. PMID 16114798. S2CID 30704827.
12. ^ Portin, P; Wilkins, A (April 2017). "The Evolving Definition of the Term "Gene"". Genetics. 205 (4): 1353–1364. doi:10.1534/genetics.116.196956. PMC 5378099. PMID 28360126.
13. Yanagida, M. (1 September 2014). "The Role of Model Organisms in the History of Mitosis Research". Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology. 6 (9): a015768. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a015768. PMC 4142965. PMID 25183827.
14. ^ Campbell, Neil A.; Reece, Jane B. (2009). "Chapter 15: The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance". Biology (PDF) (Eighth ed.). San Francisco: Pearson Benjamin Cummings. pp. 286–304. ISBN 9780805368444.
15. Edelman, Isidore S.; Fischbach, Gerald D. (16 October 2003). Genes and Genomes: Impact on Medicine and Society. Genes, Genomes, and Evolution Symposium. Columbia University, 16 October 2003 (PDF).
16. Hawley, RS; Ganetzky, B (July 2016). "Alfred Sturtevant and George Beadle Untangle Inversions". Genetics. 203 (3): 1001–3. doi:10.1534/genetics.116.191825. PMC 4937475. PMID 27384021.
17. Damas, Joana; Corbo, Marco; Lewin, Harris A. (16 February 2021). "Vertebrate Chromosome Evolution". Annual Review of Animal Biosciences. 9 (1): 1–27. doi:10.1146/annurev-animal-020518-114924. ISSN 2165-8102. PMID 33186504. S2CID 226947458.
18. Massey, Jonathan H; Chung, Daayun; Siwanowicz, Igor; Stern, David L; Wittkopp, Patricia J (15 October 2019). "The yellow gene influences Drosophila male mating success through sex comb melanization". eLife. 8: e49388. doi:10.7554/eLife.49388. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 6794089. PMID 31612860.
19. Hultén, MA (8 April 2011). "On the origin of crossover interference: A chromosome oscillatory movement (COM) model". Molecular Cytogenetics. 4: 10. doi:10.1186/1755-8166-4-10. PMC 3103480. PMID 21477316.
20. Lorentz, Cindy Pham; Wieben, Eric D.; Tefferi, Ayale; Whiteman, David A. H.; Dewald, Gordon W. (August 2002). "Primer on medical genomics part I: History of genetics and sequencing of the human genome". Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 77 (8): 773–782. doi:10.4065/77.8.773. ISSN 0025-6196. PMID 12173713.
21. Shaw, K.; Miko, I. (2008). "Chromosome Theory and the Castle and Morgan Debate | Learn Science at Scitable". Nature Education. 1 (1): 142–.
22. Heslop-Harrison, Pat (11 July 2013). "100 years after Sturtevant and the linear order of genes on chromosomes: an ECA cytogenetics session". Molecular cytogenetics and genome evolution. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
23. Provine, W. B. (September 1991). "Alfred Henry Sturtevant and crosses between Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans". Genetics. 129 (1): 1–5. doi:10.1093/genetics/129.1.1. ISSN 0016-6731. PMC 1204558. PMID 1936952.
24. Ganetzky, B; Hawley, RS (January 2016). "The Centenary of GENETICS: Bridges to the Future". Genetics. 202 (1): 15–23. doi:10.1534/genetics.115.180182. PMC 4701082. PMID 26733664.
25. Cox, Michael M.; Doudna, Jennifer; O'Donnell, Michael (2015). "2. DNA: The Repository of Biological Information". Molecular biology : principles and practice (PDF) (Second ed.). New York: Freeman, W. H. & Company. ISBN 9781464126147.
26. Knudson, Alfred G. (December 2000). "Chasing the cancer demon". Annual Review of Genetics. 34 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1146/annurev.genet.34.1.1. ISSN 0066-4197. PMID 11092820.

External links

• Resources in your library
• Resources in other libraries

• Online books
• Resources in your library
• Resources in other libraries

• Works by or about Alfred Sturtevant at the Internet Archive
• "Guide to the Alfred H. Sturtevant Papers, 1849-1969". oac.cdlib.org.

• 1891 births
• 1970 deaths
• People from Jacksonville, Illinois
• American geneticists
• History of genetics
• Modern synthesis (20th century)
• National Medal of Science laureates
• Columbia University alumni
• People from Mobile, Alabama
• Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Members of the American Philosophical Society