Abstract:
Gregor Mendel is widely recognised as the founder of genetics. His experiments led him to devise an enduring theory, often distilled into what are now known as the principles of segregation and independent assortment. Although he clearly articulated these principles, his theory is considerably richer, encompassing the nature of fertilisation, the role of hybridisation in evolution, and aspects often considered as exceptions or extensions, such as pleiotropy, incomplete dominance, and epistasis. In an admirable attempt to formulate a more expansive theory, he researched hybridisation in at least twenty plant genera, intentionally choosing some species whose inheritance he knew would deviate from the patterns he observed in the garden pea (Pisum sativum). Regrettably, he published the results of only a few of these additional experiments; evidence of them is largely confined to letters he wrote to Carl von Nägeli. Because most original documentation is lost or destroyed, scholars have attempted to reconstruct his history and achievements from fragmentary evidence, a situation that has led to unfortunate omissions, errors, and speculations. These range from historical uncertainties, such as what motivated his experiments, to unfounded suppositions regarding his discoveries, including assertions that he never articulated the principles ascribed to him, staunchly opposed Darwinism, fictitiously recounted experiments, and falsified data to better accord with his theory. In this review, I have integrated historical and scientific evidence within a biographical framework to dispel misconceptions and provide a clearer and more complete view of who Mendel was and what he accomplished.
摘要:
孟德尔被广泛认为是遗传学的创始人。他的实验使他设计了一个持久的理论,通常提炼成现在所谓的隔离和独立分类的原则。尽管他清楚地阐述了这些原则,他的理论相当丰富,包括受精的性质,杂交在进化中的作用,和通常被认为是例外或扩展的方面,比如多功能性,不完全的优势,和上位。在提出更广泛的理论的令人钦佩的尝试中,他研究了至少20个植物属的杂交,故意选择一些物种,他知道其遗传会偏离他在花园豌豆(Pisumsativum)中观察到的模式。遗憾的是,他只发表了其中一些额外实验的结果;这些实验的证据主要限于他写给卡尔·冯·纳格利的信。因为大多数原始文档丢失或销毁,学者们试图从零碎的证据中重建他的历史和成就,导致不幸遗漏的情况,错误,和猜测。这些来自历史的不确定性,比如他的实验的动机,对他的发现毫无根据的假设,包括断言他从未阐明归于他的原则,坚决反对达尔文主义,虚构地叙述实验,伪造数据以更好地符合他的理论。在这次审查中,我在传记框架内整合了历史和科学证据,以消除误解,并对孟德尔是谁以及他的成就提供更清晰,更完整的看法。