The Search for Human Chromosomes A History of Discovery
This book is a broadly historical account of a remarkable and very exciting scientific story–the search for the number of human chromosomes. It covers the processes and people, culminating in the realization that discovering the number of human chromosome
- PDF / 2,906,343 Bytes
- 182 Pages / 439.43 x 683.15 pts Page_size
- 77 Downloads / 208 Views
The Search for Human Chromosomes A History of Discovery
The Search for Human Chromosomes
ThiS is a FM Blank Page
Wilson John Wall
The Search for Human Chromosomes A History of Discovery
Wilson John Wall Bewdley United Kingdom
ISBN 978-3-319-26334-2 ISBN 978-3-319-26336-6 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-26336-6
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015958021 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London # Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Introduction
Why do we need to know how many chromosomes there are in a cell. What are chromosomes made of and how can their behaviour have far-reaching effects on inheritance and health? Simply put—why are they so important and why should we all know about them? There comes a point in the curiosity of man when simple observation and description is not enough. This was the point at which genetics was born from observations of plant and animal breeding. The problem of most breeding is that to a casual observer it seems to produce random results, which can then be refined by inbreeding. More than that, some species have a distinct propensity to remain unchained by breeding, whereas species such as dogs can be changed out of all proportion by breeding. This variation in levels of plasticity of the genome in some species gives rise to far greater variation between breeds than in species that do not seem to change to such a large degree. Some species are reluctant producers of varieties for different reasons, for example, large and long-lived trees are not good experimental organisms because they will most likely outlive their researcher before any useful changes can be observed. It may also be that there may not be any reason for a breeder to cast an eye on an already useful and naturally regenerating species. We all know that the
Data Loading...
