In Pursuit of the Gene

236 ¨ X-RAYS
beautiful parks, mansions had been converted to laboratories, and rooms
that were still filled with gilding and Byzantine decorations were now
outfitted with lab benches. 46 Vavilov himself lived in his office in the former
country house that had been presented by the late Queen Victoria to her
godson the ex–grand duke Boris Vladimirovitch. 47 Under Vavilov’s direction,
the genetics station was coordinating the work of plant breeders
throughout Russia with the goal of developing a vast collection of cereals
that were to be the basis of an ambitious breeding program aimed at creating
improved agricultural varieties. 48 Fifteen years later, after Muller’s and
Vavilov’s fates had become deeply entwined, they would see each other for
the last time at Tsarskoye Selo, which had then been renamed Detskoye
Selo (Children’s Village).
¨ HOWEVER BLEAK their prospects for happiness together, Jessie and
Hermann were married in June 1923, and on November 2, 1924, Jessie gave
birth to a son, David Eugene, whose middle name expressed their shared
belief that a child who was the product of two highly intelligent, socially
progressive atheists was the best hope for the improvement of the gene
pool. In high spirits, Hermann wrote Edgar about the birth of his new baby:
“Rice beat Texas but Texas came back the next day by having David Eugene
Muller born.” But the birth of their first child was physically punishing for
Jessie, who was already frail. Adding to her woes, the math department insisted
she resign her position as instructor because she’d had a baby, at the
same time praising her for her “loyal and efficient service.” 49 Sleep-deprived
from staying up nights with the new baby and unable to keep up with his
fly work, Muller nevertheless entered a period of intense creativity. He was
now more convinced than ever that the time was ripe to proceed with the
mutation work.
Already in the spring of 1923, Altenburg and Muller had discussed possible
new directions to take in the mutation work, and just before David
was born Muller wrote to encourage Altenburg to begin treating flies in different
stages of development with radium, and to test its effect on males
and females to determine which sex tolerated the radiation best. After the