Abstract
MAY I suggest that the difficulty in respect of the polygene concept, familiar to earlier writers as the theory of multiple or cumulative factors, put forward by Dr. 'Espinasse1, is rather logical in character than, as he describes it, methodological. In simple genetics the breeding behaviour exhibited in a group of experiments is 'explained' by a few Mendelian factors, the effects of which are sufficiently different for them to be recognized individually. In the case of many quantitative characters the phenomena of heredity open to observation may be 'explained' on the supposition that there are many Mendelian factors having similar, though not necessarily identical effects. In 1918 I was able to show that such a view accorded well with every feature of the phenomena brought to light by the biometrical study of inheritance in man2. When Dr. 'Espinasse asks “What is the scientific value of such an explanation?”, the answer is the same in both the cases. Its value lies in its ability to predict the results of future breeding operations.
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References
'Espinasse, P. G., NATURE, 149, 732 (1942).
Fisher, R. A., Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., 52, 399 (1918).
Panse, V. G., Ann. Eugen., 10, 76–105 (1940).
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FISHER, R. The Polygene Concept. Nature 150, 154 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/150154b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/150154b0
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