science · 12 April 1878 · 146 years ago
birth
Born 12 Apr 1878; died 24 Apr 1958 at age 80.
Richard Benedikt Goldschmidt was a German-American zoologist who specialized in heredity. He studied the X-chromosomes of butterflies. He produced a theory, now discredited, that there were more decisive factors in inheritance than the qualities of the individual genes. He held that the serial pattern of the chromosomes and the chemical configuration of the chromosome molecule were more important factors. His experiments with the Gypsy Moth revealed that much geographical variation is genetic and not environmental in origin. However, he was able with high temperature to produce phenotypes in fruit flies, and demonstrate an environmental factor could mimic some of the effects of genetic mutation, though not inheritable.
OnThisDay.net