Evening star., 1931-12-13
BY THOMAS n. HENRY.

bb AHoMAS H. nENhk.
The mysterious gene" fundamental
unit of the qualities OF living things
from anaoebas 10 men, may at last have
been seen by the human eye It was an
nounced yesterday at the Carnegie In
stitution of Washington.
At least DR.. J. Belling of the Carnegie
laboratory OF plant biology. using a
special optical method, has been able to
| resolve the chromonere of q chromo-
some, hitherto the smallest visible part
OF living cell, into still smaller units
just about at the extreme limit Of hu-
man visibility with present instruments.
He has seen either the gene itself or the
ultimate oontainer of the gene.
Up to the present biologists have been
certain of the existence of the gene just
as physicists have been certain OF the
existence of the atom, although nobody
ever has seen either Of them. Both are
necessary to explain what happens.
The fundamental unit Of every living
body, plant or animal, is the cell
Growth, and for that matter life itself
is a process Of cell increase and division.
Each cell consists OF two visible parts g
nucleus and surrounding area OF fluid
like substance the cytoplasm. Under
the microscope the nucleus itself can be
seen to consist of several tiny, elongated
bodies known as chromosomes. At
certain stages in the life Of the cell a
chromosome itself is found to consist
Of string of globular clusters, some
what like a string of beads.
Now the characteristics Of any liv-
ing thing which are transmitted by
heredity depend on some units that are
contained within these globular clus-
ters the chromomeres. These units are
the physical containers of the unit
characterised hair, blue eyes, long
noses feeble -mindedness, thick fur, the
color and shape Of blossoms, fatness In
pigs, milk production in cows. The list
is endless of the characters that are de-
termined by these tiny hypothetical
bodies within the chromomers. 1t in
cludes everything in life which is not
strictly determined by environment.
Special Relationships.
Every cell in the body has all the
chromosomes and, supposedly, all the
genes. The particular gene which de-
termines the color OF mans eyes is
present in his big toe. A special rela-
tionShip to the other cells of the body
Is necessary before particular gene
comes into action. The eye color gene
doesn't have this special relationship
anywhere else but in an eye. Change
in single gene at the beginning of the
process Of cell division which consti-
tutes life may profoundly affect the
whole makeup OF the individual Every
cell in every living body, the geneticists
have determined, must contain one gene
for every hereditary character. There
are innumerable such hereditary char
acterS ia such a complex oganism as
human being. Obviously then, the
chromomeres Of the chromosomes can
not be identical with the genes, for
there are not enough OF them. But no.
body ever has been able to detect physi-
cally anything smaller in the cell nu-
cleuS
What DR.. Belling with his special op-
teal system saw inside the chromomere
it was explained at the Carnegie Insti-
tuition, was difference in the inten-
sity Of coler, which indicated the pres
ence Of small bodies. They either are
the genes tnemseiVcs or StilI another
subdivision of living matter within
which the genes exist as separate enti-
ties, somewhat as do electrons within
an atom. He has, it was stated, re
solved the chromomere into smaller
units" The units. were described as
about the size of large protein mole
cules. Further work along the same
line, 1t was explained, is necessary to
determine just what DR.. Belling has
discovered.
Hitherto experimental work with the