Abstract

Following the rediscovery of Mendel's work in 1900, the field of genetics advanced rapidly. Human genetics, however, lagged behind; this was especially noticeable in cytogenetics, which was already a mature discipline in experimental forms in the 1950s. We did not know the correct human chromosome number in 1955, let alone were we able to detect a chromosomal abnormality. In 1956 a discovery was reported that markedly altered human cytogenetics and genetics. The following is an analysis of that discovery.

Author affiliations

1. Stanley M. Gartler is at the Departments of Medicine and Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
   Email: gartler@u.washington.edu

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.