Abstract
IN my address on the gene concept, part of which appeared in NATURE of November 18, I was discussing the subject particularly from the cytological point of view. Prof. Willey, in his interesting letter, has in mind another aspect of the unit character conception which I consider is of great importance from a phylogenetical point of view. When I said that “the conception of the unit character was given up many years ago”, I meant that the early conception of a strict one-to-one correspondence between a particular character and a particular factor or gene, is no longer tenable. Studies of the interactions of genes and the multiple effects of single genes in development of the organism show (1) that many genes may contribute to the final production of single characters, and (2) that single genes may have multiple effects in the organism. While these are now well-known principles in genetics, nevertheless it remains true that each gene usually has a preponderating effect in the production of a single character.
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GATES, R. The Unit Character in Genetics. Nature 133, 138 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133138a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133138a0
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