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Cyril Dean Darlington: the man who 'invented' the chromosome

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Oren Harman at Bar Ilan University
Oren Harman
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Abstract

Cyril Darlington (1903-1981) was the most famous cytologist in the world in the decades preceding the molecular revolution of the 1950s. He crossed disciplinary boundaries to create a synthesis of cytology, genetics and evolution by revealing the mechanics of chromosomal recombination and the importance of its evolution. Always controversial during his lifetime, obituaries ultimately referred to him as the 'Copernicus' or 'Newton' of cytology. This article reviews Darlington's scientific contributions, the reasons for their difficult reception at the time and their continuing relevance.
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... Advances has become the "chromosome bible" for some scientists, but at the same time, the book and its author stirred controversy from day one (e.g. Belling, 1933;Lewis, 1983;Harman, 2003Harman, , 2004Harman, , 2006. Why did Darlington's book provoke such a fierce polemic? ...
... Advances has become the "chromosome bible" for some scientists, but at the same time, the book and its author stirred controversy from day one (e.g. Belling, 1933;Lewis, 1983;Harman, 2003Harman, , 2004Harman, , 2006. Why did Darlington's book provoke such a fierce polemic? ...
... Recombination between the ends of two nonhomologous chromosomes is described in scientific literature by various Darlington (1903Darlington ( -1981 (Harman, 2004). Photo of CDD and MU courtesy of Clare Passingham. ...
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... The writer Paul suggests there may have been more Lysenkoists in India, France and Brazil than England, but in England people were forced to choose between science and communism (Paul 1983). C. D. Darlington however, was vocal in his criticism of Lysenkoism (Harman 2004) arguing that, 'a government which relied on the absence of inborn class and race differences in man as the basis of its political theory, was naturally unhappy about a science of genetics which relies on the presence of such differences' (Harman 2004, p. 151). Other critics such as R. A. Fisher also condemned Lysenko (Paul 1983). ...
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  • Nov 2017
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