Bateson, William

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Bateson, William (1861–1926) British geneticist, who worked at Cambridge University. In 1900 he translated and championed the rediscovered work of Mendel and went on to study inheritance in chickens, demonstrating Mendelian ratios in the inheritance of comb shapes. He also found that some traits are controlled by more than one gene. In experiments with sweet peas he showed that some traits are inherited together, but he did not accept T. H. Morgan's explanation of linkage to account for this. Bateson coined the term `genetics' (in 1905).

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