He is most notable for his 1948 study[2] of sexual selection in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) which established Bateman's principle.
Bateman was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain during the Lysenko affair.
He was an anti-Lysenkoist within the Party whilst writing in defense of Lysenko for non-Party audiences.
In 1942 he moved to Cyril Darlington's Genetics Department at the John Innes Horticultural Institute in Merton Park.
[4][5][6] Bateman was an acquaintance of Ronald Fisher and critically discussed the manuscript of his 1948 paper with him.