Biographical Memoirs Volume 56 (1987) / Chapter Skim
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Curt Stern
Curt Stern
Pages 442-473
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From page 443... ...
This was followed by the elucidation of the structure of DNA, leading to a cascade of discoveries concerning DNA fine structure and how it can be manipulated. Each of these flowerings clominatect the conceptual biological thinking of the time.
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From page 444... ...
Born in Hamburg, Germany, on August 30, 1902, the first son of Barned anct Anna Stern, he early displayed a strong interest in natural history, ranging from microscopic studies of pondwater to the zoological collections that enliven parental responsibilities. In these interests he received unusual support from two extraordinary high school teachers, who encouraged him to undertake the study of zoology.
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From page 445... ...
(He was at that time probably the most junior fellow at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute.) Some six months later, Goldschmidt returned the paper without comment, but shortly thereafter called Stern into his office.
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From page 446... ...
This was shortly followed by an ingenious clemonstration (back to the Y-chromosome) that as he acIdect supernumerary Y-chromosomes bearing the bobbed allele to Drosophila, the trait gradually ctisappearect, understandable now that we know the bobber]
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From page 447... ...
Stern accepted a temporary position at Western Reserve University, but quickly moved to the University of Rochester, where he was to remain until 1947, serving from 1941 to 1947 both as chairman of the Department of Zoology and chairman of the Division of Biological Sciences. Shortly after he arrived at Rochester, he began to investigate what was then a puzzling phenomenon: the occurrence in female flies heterozygous for one or several sex-linkoct recessive alleles of epidermal spots manifesting the effects of one or all of these alleles or even, if the alleles were on ctifferent but homologous chromosomes, "twin spots," exhibiting the phenotypes associated with both alleles.
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From page 448... ...
Working with strains thought to be isogenic except for fourth chromosomes of different origins, as well as with strains in which a deficiency of the region encompassing the ci locus was present, and manipulating temperature, Stern in 1943 demonstratecl that normal alleles of ci differed greatly in their potency, as measured by their ability to mollify the expression of the ci trait in heterozygotes or hemizygotes for this locus. He termed these different normal alleles "isoalleles." This demonstration of a range of genetic variation beyond that easily envisioned presaged (and may now find an explanation in)
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From page 449... ...
, an important question was the effect of these "recessives" when heterozygous. Given the ratio of heterozygotes to homozygotes preclictect by the Harcly-Weinberg formulation, for a rare allele even a small heterozygote effect for an autosomally inherited recessive lethal coup outweigh the impact of the occasional homozygote.
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From page 450... ...
The various types of regularly arranged chaetae, so obv~ous when one inspects a fly, proved most useful in these interests. Studies with Hannah-Alava, employing genetic mosaics of various derivations, demonstrated a new level of complexity in embryological determination: Differentiation of the male sex-comb (a specialized row of chaetae)
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From page 451... ...
No such spots were observed in the eyes of 27,557 controls. On the assumption that the rect spots resulted from somatic cell recombination in a cell of the developing eye disc, and that the eyes of the flies scored collectively provided a minimum of 9 x lob mitoses in which the results of somatic recombination couIct be observecl, these 4 spots suggested a frequency of recombination between these mutational sites of less than ~ or 2 in
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From page 452... ...
HUMAN GENETICS Technically, Stern's advent into the other fielc! of genetics with which his name is so prominently associated, human genetics, dates from a paper entitlecl "Welche Moglichkeiten die Ergebnisse der experimentellen Vererbungslehre ciafur, class clurch verschieclens Symptome charakterisierte Nervenkrankheiten auf gleicher erblicher Grundlage beruhen?
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From page 453... ...
to field work in India, his only field work in human genetics. The resulting 1964 publication, with Centerwall and Sakar, left the issue open, simple autosomal dominance or recessiveness being possible alternative explanations.
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Two lectures that illustrate the why of this popularity are the Prather Lectures deliverecI in 1965 at Harvard, entitIecl "Genetic Mosaics and Other Essays," and "Genes and People," delivered in 1966 as a special lecture for laymen in connection with the Third International Congress of Human Genetics. As best the record can be reconstructed (primarily by his longtime associate, Dr.
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From page 455... ...
Likewise, in 1950 he felt obligated to point out how Boveri, far from having clelayocl the recognition of the chromosomal basis of genetic linkage, as suggested by Punnet in his historical account in 1950, had with amazing insight preclictect genetic linkage in 1904. He was cosignatory on a little note in Lancet that lecI to the replacement of the unfortunate term "mongolian idiocy" by "Down's syndrome." Finally, impressecI by inaccuracies in the available translations into English of Mendel's papers and the source material concerning their rediscovery, he colIaboratecT with Sherwood on a Mende!
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Faktorenaustausch, ~ 933; Principles of Human Genetics, ~ 949, 1960, 1973; The Origin of Genetics, with Eva Sherwood, 1966; and Genetic Mosaics and Other Essays, ~ 968) and approximately 230 inctiviclual coauthored journal publications.
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From page 457... ...
Indeecl, read carefully, the last edition of his text on human genetics (1973) was showing the strains of one man writing a text doing justice to all the (developments even in a single field of genetics.
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From page 458... ...
1978. Genetic mosaic studies of pattern formation in Drosophila melanogaster, with special reference to the prepattern hypothesis.
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From page 459... ...
Zentralbl., 46:344-48. Eine neue Chromosomenaberration von Drosophila melanogaster und ihre Bedeutung fur die Theorie der linearen Anordnung der Gene.
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From page 460... ...
Naturforscher, 5:497508. Welche Moglichkeiten bieten die Ergebnisse der experimentellen Vererbungslehre daf~ir, class durch verschiedenes Symptome charakterisierte Nervenkrankheiten auf gleicher erblicher Grundlage beruhen?
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From page 461... ...
Neue Untersuchungen uber Aberrationen des YChromosoms von Drosophila melanogaster.
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Untersuchungen uber eine spontane Chromosomenverlagerung bei Drosophila melanogaster.
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From page 463... ...
The relation between the color of testes and vase efferentia in Drosophila. Genetics, 24: 162-79.
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On primary attributes of alleles in Drosophila melanogastex Proc.
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From page 465... ...
The genetic effects of low intensity irradiation. Science, 109:609-10.
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From page 466... ...
USA, 37:403-4. Probleme der menschliche Erbforschung.
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From page 467... ...
Studies on the position effect at the cubitus interruptus locus of Drosophila melanogastex Genetics, 40:333-73. Qualitative aspects of the population problem.
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From page 468... ...
The ratio of monozygotic to dizygotic affected twins and the frequencies of affected twins in unselected data. Acta Genet.
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From page 469... ...
Dosage compensation-development of a concept and new facts. (Fifth Huskins Memorial Lecture.)
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From page 470... ...
A search for maternally influenced sex-ratio in Drosophila melanogastex DIS, 35:96. Review of Die philosophischen Grundlagen der Naturwissenschaften, by M
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From page 471... ...
Mendel and human genetics.
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From page 472... ...
Med., 10:500-523. Some general aspects of human genetics.
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From page 473... ...
1973 Principles of Human Genetics, 3d ed. San Francisco: W
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