Genes Were Named Before Anyone Knew What They Were
A gene is a unit of heredity. The word was coined for something whose physical nature was still a mystery.
A gene is a unit of heredity carried on a chromosome. The word was coined in 1909 by the Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen, who deliberately chose a name that said nothing about what a gene was made of — nobody knew. DNA was not shown to carry heredity until 1944, and its structure was not described until 1953, more than forty years after the naming. The root is Greek *genos*, birth or kind, which also gives *genus*, *genesis* and *generate*.
- A unit of heredity. *An inherited gene.*
- Genetics — its study. *Genetics.*
- Genome — the full set. *The human genome.*
- Coined 1909. *By Wilhelm Johannsen.*
- Greek — *genos*, birth. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | gene | A gene. |
| Plural | genes | Genes. |
| Adjective | genetic | Genetic. |
| Noun | genome | A genome. |
| Greek | genos | Birth or kind. |
- The trait is carried by a single gene.Biology.
- Johannsen coined the word in 1909.History.
- Genos means birth.Etymology.
A name before a discovery
- 1866 — Mendel describes inherited factors without naming them
- 1909 — Johannsen coins gene, deliberately vague about its nature
- 1944 — the Avery experiment identifies DNA as the carrier
- 1953 — Watson, Crick and Franklin's data reveal the double helix
- 2003 — the human genome is declared essentially complete
Coined 1909 by Wilhelm Johannsen, from Greek *genos*, birth or race, through German *Gen*.
Who coined the word gene?
The Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen in 1909, deliberately choosing a name that made no claim about what a gene was physically made of.
When was DNA identified as the carrier of genes?
In 1944, thirty-five years after the word was coined, and its double helix structure was described in 1953.