Thomas Hunt Morgan's Fruit Fly Experiments

Thomas Hunt Morgan's Fruit Fly Experiments

• Morgan used fruit flies (Drosophila) for his experiments due to their quick reproduction, many visible traits, and few chromosomes.
• He bred fruit flies with specific traits and studied variations in their offspring under microscopic examination.
• His work demonstrated that traits are inherited together from the chromosome responsible for sex.
• Males have X and Y chromosomes, while females have two X chromosomes, which helped him determine that traits linked to the male sex were carried on the Y chromosome.
• This confirmed the chromosomal theory of inheritance by showing how genetic material is passed through generations, extending Mendel's work to animals.

Discovering Inheritance

• White-eyed male fruit flies and red-eyed female flies had offspring with red eyes.
• Breeding the offspring generations showed that white eyes are recessive and linked to male sex.
• His research showed genes have specific locations on chromosomes (enable genetic maps creation).

Hermann Joseph Muller's Contributions

• Muller worked on genetic mutations, proving hereditary changes can be human-induced.
• He used X-rays to induce genetic mutations in fruit flies.
• Became a pioneer in raising awareness of long-term health risks from radiation exposure from his research.
• Campaigned for regulations concerning nuclear weapons, highlighting the harm of radiation.