MORGAN, THOMAS HUNT

born Sept. 25, 1866, Lexington, Ky., U.S. died Dec. 4, 1945, Pasadena, Calif. Thomas Hunt Morgan American zoologist and geneticist, famous for his experimental research with the fruit fly (Drosophila) by which he established the chromosome theory of heredity. He showed that genes are linked in a series on chromosomes and are responsible for identifiable, hereditary traits. Morgan's work played a key role in establishing the field of genetics. He received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1933. Additional reading Biographies include Ian Shine and Sylvia Wrobel, Thomas Hunt Morgan: Pioneer of Genetics (1976); and Garland E. Allen, Thomas Hunt Morgan: The Man and His Science (1978). Discussions of Morgan's work and the work of the Morgan school of Drosophila geneticists may be found in A.H. Sturtevant, A History of Genetics (1965); Elof Axel Carlson, The Gene: A Critical History (1966, reprinted 1989); and Jane Maienschein, Transforming Traditions in American Biology, 18801915 (1991). Garland Edward Allen The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica