Heredity under the Microscope

"By focusing on the chromosome in the quest to study and harness human heredity, Heredity under the Microscope offers a new history of postwar genetics. Today chromosomes are understood as macromolecular assemblies and analyzed with an array of molecular techniques. Yet throughout much of the twentieth century, researchers studied chromosomes by looking down the microscope at darkly stained bodies in the cell. In the 1950s, improved chromosome preparations offered a direct glimpse of the complete genome of an individual, opening up seemingly endless possibilities of observation and interventions. Much of the fascination with chromosomes and their persuasive power was based on the visual evidence the chromosome preparations provided, but critics countered that looking at pictures was not enough: we needed to understand the mechanisms. De Chadarevian argues that the often-bewildering variety of observations made by chromosome researchers were as central to the making of human heredity as the search for fundamental mechanisms pursued through the study of model organisms"--