Editing J. B. S. Haldane (section)

=== Genetic linkage ===

In 1904, [[Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire]] published a paper on an experiment attempting to test [[Mendelian inheritance]] between [[Japanese house mouse|Japanese waltzing]] and albino mice.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Darbishire|first=A. D.|date=1904|title=On the Result of Crossing Japanese Waltzing with Albino Mice|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2331519|journal=Biometrika|volume=3|issue=1|pages=1–51|doi=10.2307/2331519|jstor=2331519}}</ref> When Haldane came across the paper, he noticed that Darbishire had overlooked the possibility of genetic linkage in the experiment. Having sought advice from [[Reginald Punnett]], a professor of biology at the University of Cambridge, he was ready to write a paper, but only after an independent experiment.<ref name=":3" /> With his sister [[Naomi Mitchison|Naomi]] and a friend one year his senior, Alexander Dalzell Sprunt, he started the experiment in 1908 using [[guinea pigs]] and [[mouse|mice]]. By 1912, the report was ready.<ref name=":8" /> The paper was entitled ''Reduplication in mice'' and published in the ''[[Journal of Genetics]]'' only in December 1915.<ref name="haldane1915">{{cite journal|last=Haldane|first=J. B. S.|author2=Sprunt, A. D.|author3=Haldane, N. M.|year=1915|title=Reduplication in mice (Preliminary Communication)|url=https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jgen/005/02/0133-0135|journal=Journal of Genetics|volume=5|issue=2|pages=133–135|doi=10.1007/BF02985370|s2cid=22245638}}</ref> It became the first demonstration of [[genetic linkage]] in [[mammal]]s, showing that certain genetic traits tend to be inherited together (this was later discovered to be due to their proximity on chromosomes).<ref name="Dronamraju-Recollections" /> (Between 1912 and 1914, genetic linkage had been reported in the fruit fly ''[[Drosophila melanogaster|Drosophilla]]'',<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Morgan|first1=T. H.|last2=Lynch|first2=Clara J.|date=1912|title=The Linkage of Two Factors in Drosophila That Are Not Sex-Linked|journal=Biological Bulletin|volume=23|issue=3|pages=174–182|doi=10.2307/1535915|jstor=1535915|doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Bombyx mori|silk moth]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tanaka|first=Yoshimaro|date=30 April 1913|title=Gametic coupling and repulsion in silkworm, Bombyx Mori|url=https://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/handle/2115/12515|journal=The Journal of the College of Agriculture, Tohoku Imperial University, Sapporo, Japan|language=en|volume=5|issue=5|pages=115–148}}</ref> and plants.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bridges|first=Calvin B.|date=1914|title=The Chromosome Hypothesis of Linkage Applied to Cases in Sweet Peas and Primula|journal=The American Naturalist|language=en|volume=48|issue=573|pages=524–534|doi=10.1086/279428|doi-access=free|bibcode=1914ANat...48..524B }}</ref>)

As the paper was written during Haldane's service during World War I, [[James F. Crow]] called it "the most important science article ever written in a front-line trench".<ref name=":3">{{cite journal|last1=Crow|first1=JF|date=1992|title=Centennial: J. B. S. Haldane, 1892–1964|journal=Genetics|volume=130|issue=1|pages=1–6|doi=10.1093/genetics/130.1.1|pmc=1204784|pmid=1732155}}</ref> Haldane recalled that he was the "only officer to complete a scientific paper from a forward position of the Black Watch".<ref name=":4" /> As was Haldane, Sprunt had joined 4th Battalion [[Bedfordshire Regiment]] at the start of World War I, and was killed at the [[Battle of Neuve Chapelle]] on 17 March 1915.<ref>{{Cite web|title=A D Sprunt|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/14590|access-date=8 August 2021|website=Imperial War Museums|language=en}}</ref> It was upon this news that Haldane submitted the paper for publication, in which he remarked: "Owing to the war it has been necessary to publish prematurely, as unfortunately one of us (A. D. S.) has already been killed in France."<ref name="haldane1915" /> He was also the first to demonstrate linkage in [[chicken]]s in 1921,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Haldane|first=JB|year=1921|title=Linkage in poultry|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1448275|journal=Science|volume=54|issue=1409|page=663|bibcode=1921Sci....54..663H|doi=10.1126/science.54.1409.663|pmid=17816160}}</ref> and (with [[Julia Bell]]) in humans in 1937.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bell|first1=J.|last2=Haldane|first2=J. B. S.|date=1937|title=The Linkage between the Genes for Colour-Blindness and Haemophilia in Man|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=123|issue=831|pages=119–150|bibcode=1937RSPSB.123..119B|doi=10.1098/rspb.1937.0046|doi-access=free}}</ref>