His research showed how early genetic theories applied to natural populations, and has therefore contributed towards the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory.

Chetverikov led a team at the Nikolai Koltsov Institute of Experimental Biology in Moscow, and in 1926 produced what should have been one of the landmark papers of the modern synthesis.

Chetverikov influenced several Russian geneticists who later came to work in the West, such as Theodosius Dobzhansky and Nikolay Timofeev-Ressovsky, both of whom continued to work in a similar style.

The significance of Chetverikov's work came to light much later, by which time the evolutionary synthesis was virtually complete.

He later moved to Nizhny Novgorod and organized the Department of Genetics at Gorky University.