Biopolymers and cell. 1994. Volume 10. № 5. 49 - 67

M. Golubovsky, L. Kaidanov

INVESTIGATION OF GENETIC VARIABILITY IN NATURAL DROSOPHILA POPULATIONS

Summary

    The paper describes the origin and development of population genetics, its main discoveries achieved in experiments with Drosophila before 1948 breakage and summarized the results of two series of long-term studies on genetic variability in Drosophila carried out by the authors. The conceptual contribution of two main centers or school leaded by V. Kottzov and S. Chetverikov in Moscow and Yu. Filipchenko in St.-Petersburg is considered. The ideas and methodology of these schools were introduced into American and European genetics by Th. Dobzhansky and N. V. Timofeev-Ressovsky. A new approach to the description of the eukaryotic genome organizations is described. The authors argued that main source of the origin of various hereditary changes in nature is the interaction of environment with the facultative genomic elements.