Boveri–Sutton chromosome theory

The chromosome group of the presynaptic germ-cells is made up of two equivalent chromosome-series, and that strong ground exists for the conclusion that one of these is paternal and the other maternal.

The process of synapsis (pseudo-reduction) consists in the union in pairs of the homologous members (i. e., those that correspond in size) of the two series.

The chromosome theory of inheritance is credited to papers by Walter Sutton in 1902[5] and 1903,[6] as well as to independent work by Theodor Boveri during roughly the same period.

[15] Debate continued, however, until 1915 when Thomas Hunt Morgan's work on inheritance and genetic linkage in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster provided incontrovertible evidence for the proposal.

[1][better source needed][3] The unifying theory stated that inheritance patterns may be generally explained by assuming that genes are located in specific sites on chromosomes.