Darwin-L Message Log 2:36 (October 1993)

Academic Discussion on the History and Theory of the Historical Sciences

This is one message from the Archives of Darwin-L (1993–1997), a professional discussion group on the history and theory of the historical sciences.

Note: Additional publications on evolution and the historical sciences by the Darwin-L list owner are available on SSRN.

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<2:36>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu  Fri Oct  8 11:40:52 1993

Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1993 12:47:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: The term "locus"
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro

An afterthought on the issue of ploidy and polymorphism:  Do any of our
population biologists know when and by whom the term "locus" was first
used to describe the position of a gene on a chromosome?  Would it have
been by T.H. Morgan?  I am wondering now whether the term might have
been chosen not just for its obvious meaning of "place", but also because
of a recognized parallel between genetic and textual transmission, since
the same word is used by philologists to describe a "place" in a text.

Bob O'Hara
darwin@iris.uncg.edu

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