Question

Lethal mutations were first detected by

• A. Morgan
• B. Muller
• C. L. Cuenot
• D. Bateson
• E. None of the above

Answer 1

The correct option is E None of the above

Morgan worked on eye colour inheritance in Drosophila and induced mutation by radiations that produced white eyes fly in an otherwise red-eyed generation.Muller showed radioactive nature of X-rays in producing point mutations in the fruit fly Drosophila; male fruit flies were exposed to relatively high doses of radiation and were then mated to virgin female fruit flies thereby induced more than 100 mutations. It was concluded that radioactive particles traverse through the chromosomes and randomly affect the molecular structure of individual genes, making them either non-functional or with altered function. William Bateson coined the term “genetics” for the branch of science that study inheritance and variations in organisms. L. Cuenot observed presence of yellow skin colour in mice as lethal trait since a cross between two yellow mice produce homozygous brown mice and heterozygous yellow mice in 1:2 ratio respectively. The homozygous yellow mice were not obtained and discovered the lethal allele in 1905. Thus, the correct answer is option E.