Alfred Sturtevant

Alfred Henry Sturtevant (born November 21, 1891 in Jacksonville ( Illinois ), † April 5, 1970 in Pasadena ( California )) was an American geneticist . In 1913 he created the first simple gene map of an organism on the black-bellied fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster . He worked with others from Thomas Hunt Morgan's group at Columbia University in New York.

Sturtevant grew up as the youngest of six children in Illinois and later in Alabama . In 1908 he went to Columbia University and became a PhD student with Morgan. He completed his PhD in 1914 and stayed with Morgan's group until he became Professor of Genetics at the California Institute of Technology in 1928 . In 1943, Sturtevant was President of the Genetics Society of America . He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1930, the American Philosophical Society in 1936, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1949. In 1965 he received the John J. Carty Award from the National Academy of Sciences. He stayed at Caltech until his death .

Sturtevant married in 1922 and had three children.

Publications

• The linear arrangement of six sex-linked factors in Drosophila , as shown by their mode of association . Journal of Experimental Zoology , 14: 43–59, 1913 (PDF file; 107 kB)
• The North American Species of Drosophila . Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1921.
• A History of Genetics . Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. Online edition

Web links

• Lewis, EB : Alfred Henry Sturtevant , National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs

Trivia

In the book "The Violinist's Thumb", author Sam Kean sheds light on parts of Sturtevant's life and personality.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A. Paululat, G. Purschke: Dictionary of Zoology, Springer 2011, entry Sturtevant