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Theodor and Marcella Boveri: chromosomes and cytoplasm in heredity and development

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 9, pages 231–238 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The chromosome theory of heredity, developed in 1902–1904, became one of the foundation stones of twentieth-century genetics. It is usually referred to as the Sutton–Boveri theory after Walter Sutton and Theodor Boveri. However, the contributions of Theodor Boveri and his co-worker, Marcella O'Grady Boveri (also his wife), to the understanding of heredity and development go beyond the localization of the Mendelian hereditary factors onto the chromosomes. They investigated the interaction of cytoplasm and chromosomes, and demonstrated its relevance in heredity and development.

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Figure 1: Mechanisms of cell division, 1888.
Figure 2: Cell division in Ascaris megalocephala bivalens, in high optical enlargement, 1901.
Figure 3: Early development and chromosome diminution in Ascaris megalocephala, 1899.
Figure 4: Chromosomes in the germ line of Ascaris megalocephala, 1899.
Figure 5: Embryonic development of Ascaris megalocephala univalens, after experimental intervention in early phases of development, 1910.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank A. Wear and A. Hardy for comments on the manuscript.

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  1. Helga Satzinger is at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London, 183 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE, UK. h.satzinger@ucl.ac.uk,

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Satzinger, H. Theodor and Marcella Boveri: chromosomes and cytoplasm in heredity and development. Nat Rev Genet 9, 231–238 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2311

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