Question

The chromosome theory of inheritance:

Options

• preceded Mendel’s research by a century

• was proposed by Mendel

• was proposed by Boveri and Sutton and explained why Mendel’s laws are true

• all of the above

Answer 1

was proposed by Boveri and Sutton and explained why Mendel’s laws are true

Explanation:

The chromosome theory of inheritance was proposed independently by Theodor Boveri and Walter S. Sutton in 1903, following the rediscovery of Mendel’s laws. They observed that chromosomes occur in pairs and segregate during meiosis in a way that parallels Mendel’s factors (genes). This theory states that genes are located on chromosomes, which segregate and assort independently during meiosis, thus providing a physical basis for Mendel’s laws of inheritance. Hence, the chromosome theory explained why Mendel’s laws hold true at the cellular level. It was not proposed by Mendel himself, nor did it precede his work by a century.