1910s Timeline - John Innes Centre

1941 Advisory work takes off
As a result of the publication of
leaflets (10,000 distributed by
1941) and of broadcasts by M. B.
Crane and W. J. C. Lawrence,
the advisory work of the JIHI
multiplies several times over.
Between 1939 and 1942 the
Pomology Department receives
over five thousand public
enquiries. This work has brought
JIHI into a closer relationship
with horticulturalists in the
practical and educational
sphere. It has also led to the
adoption of JIHI’s improved
methods of raising garden
crops. In mid-1941 JIHI
estimates that in England 40%
of the larger commercial
growers and 17% of the smaller
ones have adopted the use of
John Innes composts. The
advance has been less rapid in
Scotland. During the 1940s
there are many requests for
talks on the JI composts and on
the new methods of cultivation
under glass.
In 1943-44 the first instructional
film is taken at John Innes, a
colour cinema film to illustrate
John Innes Leaflet no. 4, ‘The
fertility rules in fruit planting’
(30,000 copies of this leaflet
have been distributed since its
publication in 1941). The first
sequences shot include pollen
development, fertilization, and
fruit formation. The film is
aimed at fruit farmers and
teachers.
1941 One gene, one enzyme
At California Institute of
Technology, USA, George
Beadle and Edward Tatum’s
experiments on the red bread
mould Neurospora crassa show
that the function of genes is to
direct the formation of enzymes
which regulate chemical events.
They propose that in general
each gene directs the formation
of one (and only one) enzyme –
affirming the ‘one gene, one
enzyme’ hypothesis. This
hypothesis, which Hickman and
Cairns (2003) argue began with
French biologist Lucien Cuénot
in 1903, is usually attributed to
Archibald Garrod and his
pioneering work on ‘inborn
errors of metabolism’ (1908).
William Bateson also suggested
in 1909 that certain Mendelian
traits were due to the presence
or absence of an enzyme.
For further information on
Beadle and Tatum’s
experiments:
http://www.genome.gov/2552
0248
http://www.genetics.org/cgi/c
ontent/full/166/1/1
For a discussion of Archibald
Garrod’s seminal lecture series
(1908):
http://www.encyclopedia.com/
doc/1P3-1487595401.html
For a discussion of the history of
the ‘one gene, one enzyme’
concept:
http://www.genetics.org/cgi/c
ontent/full/163/3/839
1942 Kenneth Mather and the
Russian controversy
In 1942 Mather publishes a
critique of the Russian
government’s opposition to
genetics in Nature. Unlike many
fellow geneticists he does not
emphasize the unscientific
nature of plant science in Russia
under the leadership of Trofim
Lysenko but gives a measured
appraisal of the development of
genetics over 40 years. He
acknowledges that genetics has
neglected aspects that are of
importance to the breeder (that
is, the study of quantitative
characters) and has
consequently disappointed
those looking for a practical
return. Affirming his
commitment to the study of
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