Abstract
Let us once more go back to Hermann Muller; he observed in 1926 that X-rays caused mutations in Drosophila. The abstract gene — whatever it was — could be altered by ionising radiation. One could thus affirm that it was composed of physical matter; one could even try to guess its size. Muller surmised 2,700 atoms per gene, but due to the many arbitrary parameters he had to use, he decided not to publish his conclusions (Carlson, 1966). However, the idea was born, and one of his students followed up his reasoning.
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© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Hausmann, R. (2002). Phages. In: To Grasp the Essence of Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3540-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3540-7_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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