Article ID: CBB001552680

Johannsen's Criticism of the Chromosome Theory (2014)

unapi

The genotype theory of Wilhelm Johannsen (1857--1927) was an important contribution to the founding of classical genetics. This theory built on Johannsen's experimental demonstration that hereditary change is discontinuous, not continuous as had been widely assumed. Johannsen is also known for his criticism of traditional Darwinian evolution by natural selection, as well as his criticism of the classical Mendelian chromosome theory of heredity. He has often been seen as one of the anti-Darwinians that caused the “eclipse of Darwinism” in the early 20th century, before it was saved by the Modern Synthesis. This article focuses on Johannsen's criticism of the chromosome theory. He was indeed skeptical of the notion of the chromosomes as the sole carriers of heredity, but he praised the mapping of Mendelian genes on the chromosomes as a major step forward. Johannsen objected that these genes could not account for the whole of heredity, and that the stability of the genotype depended on much more than the stability of Mendelian genes. For Johannsen, the genotype, as a property of the whole organism, was the fundamental and empirically well-established entity.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001552680/

Similar Citations

Article Roll-Hansen, Nils; (2009)
Sources of Wilhelm Johannsen's Genotype Theory (/isis/citation/CBB000932223/)

Article Müller-Wille, Staffan; (2007)
Hybrids, Pure Cultures, and Pure Lines: From Nineteenth-Century Biology to Twentieth-Century Genetics (/isis/citation/CBB000831420/)

Book Engels, Eve-Marie; Glick, Thomas F.; (2008)
The Reception of Charles Darwin in Europe (/isis/citation/CBB001022466/)

Article Breidbach, Olaf; Ghiselin, Michael T.; (2007)
Evolution and Development: Past, Present, and Future (/isis/citation/CBB001231996/)

Thesis Pearce, Trevor Richard; (2010)
“A Perfect Chaos”: Organism-Environment Interaction and the Causal Factors of Evolution (/isis/citation/CBB001562740/)

Chapter Falk, Raphael; (2008)
Wilhelm Johannsen: A Rebel or a Diehard? (/isis/citation/CBB000960091/)

Article Falk, Raphael; (2003)
Linkage: From Particulate to Interactive Genetics (/isis/citation/CBB000340696/)

Article Satzinger, Helga; (2008)
Theodor and Marcella Boveri: Chromosomes and Cytoplasm in Heredity and Development (/isis/citation/CBB001021853/)

Article Martin, Aryn; (2004)
Can't Any Body Count? Counting as an Epistemic Theme in the History of Human Chromosomes (/isis/citation/CBB000651394/)

Article Rushton, Alan R.; (2014)
William Bateson and the Chromosome Theory of Heredity: A Reappraisal (/isis/citation/CBB001321057/)

Article Volpone, Alessandro; (2018)
Paolo Della Valle ed Edmund B. Wilson sulla natura dei cromosomi: Concezioni a confronto (/isis/citation/CBB023451755/)

Article Volpone, Alessandro; (2008)
Gli inizi della genetica in Italia (1903--1940). Una ricognizione (/isis/citation/CBB001024086/)

Article Hans-Jörg Rheinberger; (2015)
Re-discovering Mendel: The Case of Carl Correns (/isis/citation/CBB876750608/)

Article Delgado Torres, Isabel; (2003)
Los estudios morfológicos en la teoría de la determinación cromosómica del sexo: 1880--1912 (/isis/citation/CBB000350195/)

Article Wilkins, Adam S.; (2008)
Waddington's Unfinished Critique of Neo-Darwinian Genetics: Then and Now (/isis/citation/CBB001230127/)

Authors & Contributors
Volpone, Alessandro
Rushton, Alan R.
Hall, Brian K.
Falk, Raphael
Wilkins, Adam S.
Satzinger, Helga
Concepts
Genetics
Chromosomes
Heredity
Evolution
Darwinism
Biology
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
20th century
Places
England
Italy
Germany
Europe
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment