Summary
It is found that many of the phenomena which cytologists and geneticists have reported in chromosomes are mechanically, chemically, electrically and mathematically explainable if, in fact, at the time of duplication and separation, chromosomes possess the shape and certain physical properties of coil-springs. The coil-spring principle, with particular reference to timing and orientation, is the key to a consistent and systematic interpretation of many essential aspects of chromosomal duplication and separation. The more carefully and extensively research delves into the matter, the more frequently, (both in phenomena found and in phenomena apparently denied by Nature) common qualities are discovered in living chromosomes and in mechanical coil-springs.
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Laughlin, H.H. The coll-spring properties of chromosomes. Genetica 18, 126–145 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01507190
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01507190