Chromosomal theory of inheritance was given by which of the following scientists?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Walter Sutton and Theodore Boveri.
The chromosomal theory of inheritance says that Mendel’s factors (genes) are carried on chromosomes. Walter Sutton and Theodore Boveri showed that chromosomes, like Mendel’s factors, occur in pairs and separate during meiosis. Sutton joined this chromosome behaviour with Mendel’s principles and called it the chromosomal theory of inheritance. Thomas Hunt Morgan and his colleagues later verified the theory by experiments.
NCERT Extract:
Chromosomal Theory of Inheritance – “… Sutton and Boveri argued that the pairing and separation of a pair of chromosomes would lead to the segregation of a pair of factors they carried. Sutton united the knowledge of chromosomal segregation with Mendelian principles and called it the chromosomal theory of inheritance. Following this synthesis of ideas, experimental verification of the chromosomal theory of inheritance by Thomas Hunt Morgan and his colleagues, led to discovering the basis for the variation that sexual reproduction produced.”