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Katherine Shue
Ms. Santiago
UWRT-1102-002
26 October 2016
The 1933 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Why It Is So Important
The 1933 Nobel prize in medicine was awarded to Thomas Hunt Morgan for his work in
the field of Genetics. Morgan was born in Lexington, Kentucky and went on to receive a
bachelors degree from the University of Kentucky and his doctorate from Johns Hopkins
University. From here, Thomas Hunt Morgan then went on to teach at both Columbia University
and The California Institute of Technology. His greatest influences over the path that he chose
were said to be Brooks, Martin, and Howell of Johns Hopkins University. (*********). Overall,
Morgan dedicated the majority of his life to academics.
Thomas Hunt Morgan began his career in science by assisting some of the first
experimental embryologists with their studies of frogs. However, early on Morgan discovered
that his true interests were not in embryology itself, but in regeneration, or genetics. He began
his experiments with the species Drosophila, or the common Fruit Fly soon after (****). These
experiments led to Thomas Hunt Morgans rediscovery of Mendelian genetics and the function
of chromosomes in heredity and regeneration. This simple discovery paved the way for modern
genetics, and led to Morgan receiving the 1933 Nobel Prize in Medicine (*****).
Overall, Thomas Hunt Morgan was an extremely influential individual in the field of
Genetics and his discoveries paved the way to modern studies of both embryology and genetics.

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Thomas Hunt Morgans discoveries of modern genetics are important to modern medicine
because they assist in predicting the likelihood of illness, explain why people contract certain
traits, and can help to find cures for diseases.
First, the discoveries made by Thomas Hunt Morgan are important to modern medicine
because they assist doctors in predicting illness. Genetically transferred illnesses can be detected
both before birth through prenatal testing as well as afterwards through various other methods.
By having the ability to diagnose genetically transferred illness early on, doctors can more easily
treat the illness. The discovery of modern genetics by Thomas Hunt Morgan is important to
modern medicine because of the fact that it assists doctors in detecting hereditary illnesses both
before and after birth.
Today, prenatal testing is a common practice in developed countries such as the United
States, and it is due in part to Thomas Hunt Morgans discoveries related to heredity. There are
several methods in which Prenatal testing can be done, the most common of which are Chorionic
Villi Sampling, or CVS, and screening through maternal blood (****). The CVS process of
screening is usually done during the first trimester of pregnancy and tends to be fairly accurate.
This method is used primarily to test for genetic disorders caused by chromosomal issues, such
as Downs Syndrome. If Thomas Hunt Morgan would have never discovered the relationship
between chromosomes and heredity, the causes of disorders such as Downs Syndrome would be
unknown (****). Secondly, screening through samples of the maternal blood is also a common
method of prenatal testing. While this method of testing is significantly less reliable in testing for
genetic abnormalities, it is much safer and is preformed more often. This procedure entails a
small amount of the mothers blood to be drawn and tested for the presence of the alpha-feto
protein. If a large amount of this chemical is present in the mothers blood, it can be an indicator

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of Downs Syndrome, however, since the procedure is not as reliable it is often followed by CVS
testing (****) Overall, the discoveries of the linkage between chromosomes and heredity which
was made by Thomas Hunt Morgan are important because they paved the way for diseases to be
diagnosed before birth, allowing for earlier treatment.
Secondly, the discoveries made by Thomas Hunt Morgan in the field of Genetics are
important to modern medicine because they give an explanation for why certain individuals
contract illnesses. There are a variety of reasons in which an illness can be contracted genetically,
whether it is through heredity or a chromosomal mutation.
Many illnesses, such as Sickle Cell Anemia, are spread through genetic material passed
down to a child from the parents. A child receives half of their genetic code from their mother
and the other half from their father, which means that the offspring are subject to contracting a
hereditary disease. While parents may not show symptoms of the illness, they may be a carrier,
which means that they have the genes for the illness and have the possibility to pass them on to
their offspring (***) However, due to Thomas Hunt Morgan and his discovery of the linkage
between chromosomes and heredity, new methods of testing have evolved to show whether a
parent is a carrier of a particular gene or not.
The second method for contracting a genetic disorder is through a mutation, such as with
Downs Syndrome. This disorder is caused by a third copy of chromosome twenty-one being
created when in the average human genome there is only two of each chromosome. Mutations
such as this can occur both while the genetic code is being copied during reproduction or through
environmental factors after birth such as smoking or sun exposure. An example of this is with
skin cancer, which is caused by a genetic mutation that results in uncontrolled cell growth.
Elongated exposure to UV radiation results in a mutation in the DNA of skin cells, resulting in

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the illness (***). However, without the discoveries of Thomas Hunt Morgan in the functions of
chromosomes, doctors today would still be baffled at the causes of illnesses such as Skin Cancer
or Downs Syndrome.