Chapter 2: The problem of the gene
Chapter 2: The problem of the gene

Summary/Abstract: 1. The birth of the ‘gene’ as an instrumental concept The ideas underlying the concept of a ‘gene’ can be traced back to Gregor Mendel’s use of the German words ‘charakter’, ‘element’, ‘faktor’, and ‘merkmale’ as means of describing the determinants of particulate inheritance. Nevertheless, the term itself was created in the beginning of the 20th century. After 1900, as research on genetics increased rapidly, a consensual technical term designating the potential for a trait became more and more necessary. This term was provided by the Danish geneticist W. L. Johannsen who proposed, in 1909, the term ‘gene’, as a way of clarifying the ideas involved in the term ‘unit-character’, something Johannsen was in a position to do due to his successful explanation of the difference between ‘genotype’ and ‘phenotype’ (see Ch. 1).

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