Most students of biology have heard the phrase “Mendelian genetics,” owing to Gregor Mendel’s famous pea plant breeding experiments in the mid-19th century. In 1915, Mendel’s principles of heredity were first applied to the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster when “The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity” was published by the original dream team of fly researchers (partly… Continue reading Intro to Mendelian genetics
Month: July 2022
What is a balancer chromosome?
Drosophila melanogaster is a great model system for studying mutations, many of which are recessive lethal. You might be wondering: How is it possible to stably maintain a recessive lethal mutation in a fly stock? Wouldn’t the mutant allele be lost over time, as it is gradually bred out with each successive generation? Not to… Continue reading What is a balancer chromosome?