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The Birth of Thomas Hunt Morgan
Thomas was born in Lexington, Kentucky. He was the old son of Charlton Hunt Morgan. -
Morgan's Marriage
On June 4, 1904 Morgan married Lillian Vaughn Sampson. They had three daughters and one son. Their children were Edith Morgan, Isabel Morgan, Lilian Morgan, and Howard Morgan. -
Lab Studies with Students
Morgan conducted labratory studies of the fruit fly with his students Alfred H. Sturtevant, Calvin B. Bridges, and Herman J. Muller. Morgan created what is now called classical genetics. -
The Discovery of Chromosomal Theory of Heredity
In 1910, Morgan was observing a male fruit fly and noticed it had white eyes instead of the normal bright red eyes. Little did he know he was about to confirm the chromosome theory. He would be the first to link inheritance of a specific trait with a particular chromosome. -
Alfred H. Sturtevant
Sturtevant was a student and collegue of Morgan and worked in Morgan's lab. There Sturtevant created a gene map. -
The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity
Morgan and his team published "The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity" in 1915. It was called the "fundemental textbook of new genetics". -
Morgan's First Finding
Morgan's first finding was X-linked in heritance where the cross breeding of hybrid red eyed flies resulted in all female off spring having red eyes and half the male off spring had white eyes. -
The Darwin Medal
Morgan recieved the Darwin Medal awarded by the Royal Society. It is awarded every two years for "work of acknowledgement destinction in the broad area of biology in which Charles Darwin worked notably in evolution, population biology, organismal biology, and biological diversity." -
Evolution and Genetics
In 1925 Morgan published another book. It is called "Evolution and Genetics". -
The Theory of the Gene
Morgan also published a book in 1926. This book is known as "The Theory of the Gene". -
Hermann J. Muller
Muller, a student and collegue of Morgan, used radioactivity to produce point mutation in the fruit fly. Under Thomas Hunt Morgan, Muller developed the chromosomal theory of hereditary. Muller studied mutations and looked to map genes to specific chromosomes. Muller recognized genetic munipulation being imployed in industry, agriculture, and medicine. -
The Nobel Prize
Morgan recieved the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. This was for his Chromosomal Theory of Heredity. He showed that genes are linked on a series chromosomes and that they determine identifyable hereditary traits. -
The Copley Medal of the Royal Society
In 1939, Morgan recieved the Copley Medal of Royal Society, The medal is given annually for outstanding achievement in research in any branch of science. This is the society's oldest and prestigous award. -
Death of Thomas Hunt Morgan
On December 4, 1945 Thomas Hunt Morgan died at the age of 79. He lived a life full of accomplishments.
