he Theory of the Gene. The book summarizes theoretical conclusions that Morgan has drawn from more than fifteen years of empirical work. The geneticist had initially set out to challenge Mendel’s principles of heredity, but he writes that his work on the chromosomal transmission of genetic characteristics in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has instead confirmed them. His studies have, in addition, begun to identify the physiological bases of observed patterns of genetic inheritance.
