The origins of mouse genetics: Beyond the bussey institution I. Cold spring harbor: The station for experimental evolution and the 'mouse club of America'

Mammalian Genome

Volumn 8, Issue 7, 1997, Pages 464-466

  Rader, Karen A ^a  

^a PRINCETON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANIMAL; GENETICS; HISTORY; MOUSE; MOUSE STRAIN; ORGANIZATION; RESEARCH; REVIEW; UNITED STATES;

ACADEMIES AND INSTITUTES; ANIMALS; GENETICS; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; MICE; MICE, INBRED STRAINS; RESEARCH; UNITED STATES;

ANIMALIA; RODENTIA;

EID: 0031177870     PISSN: 09388990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s003359900477     Document Type: Review

References (28)

1. Cf. Snell and S Reed, "Williams Ernest Castle; Pioneer Mammalian Geneticist," Genetics, April 1993, 133: 751-753; L.C. Dunn, "William Ernest Castle," Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 1965, 38: 34-80; S. Wright, "William Ernest Castle, 1867-1962." Genetics, 1963, 48: 1-5, For a historian of biology's perspective on Castle's contributions, see the relevant sections in William B. Provine, Sewall Wright and Evolutionary Biology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986).
2. Cf. Snell and S Reed, "Williams Ernest Castle; Pioneer Mammalian Geneticist," Genetics, April 1993, 133: 751-753; L.C. Dunn, "William Ernest Castle," Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 1965, 38: 34-80; S. Wright, "William Ernest Castle, 1867-1962." Genetics, 1963, 48: 1-5, For a historian of biology's perspective on Castle's contributions, see the relevant sections in William B. Provine, Sewall Wright and Evolutionary Biology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986).
3. Cf. Snell and S Reed, "Williams Ernest Castle; Pioneer Mammalian Geneticist," Genetics, April 1993, 133: 751-753; L.C. Dunn, "William Ernest Castle," Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 1965, 38: 34-80; S. Wright, "William Ernest Castle, 1867-1962." Genetics, 1963, 48: 1-5, For a historian of biology's perspective on Castle's contributions, see the relevant sections in William B. Provine, Sewall Wright and Evolutionary Biology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986).
4. Cf. Snell and S Reed, "Williams Ernest Castle; Pioneer Mammalian Geneticist," Genetics, April 1993, 133: 751-753; L.C. Dunn, "William Ernest Castle," Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 1965, 38: 34-80; S. Wright, "William Ernest Castle, 1867-1962." Genetics, 1963, 48: 1-5, For a historian of biology's perspective on Castle's contributions, see the relevant sections in William B. Provine, Sewall Wright and Evolutionary Biology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986).
5. The photo was first published in E.S. Russell, "One Man's Influence: A Tribute to William Ernest Castle," J. Hered., 45, 210-213, 1954, but see also K. Rader, "C.C. Little and the Jackson Laboratory Archives," Mendel Newsletter, February 1996, 5, 1-7.
6. The photo was first published in E.S. Russell, "One Man's Influence: A Tribute to William Ernest Castle," J. Hered., 45, 210-213, 1954, but see also K. Rader, "C.C. Little and the Jackson Laboratory Archives," Mendel Newsletter, February 1996, 5, 1-7.
7. H.S. Morse, III, ed., "Introduction: The Origins of Inbred Mice," New York: Academic Press, 1978; M.B. Shimkin, "A.E.C. Lathrop (1868-1918): Mouse Woman of Granby," Cancer Research June 1975, 35: 1597-98. Cf. Gina Kolata, "Even a Lab Mouse Needs an Agent," New York Times, 26 January 1997, E5.
8. H.S. Morse, III, ed., "Introduction: The Origins of Inbred Mice," New York: Academic Press, 1978; M.B. Shimkin, "A.E.C. Lathrop (1868-1918): Mouse Woman of Granby," Cancer Research June 1975, 35: 1597-98. Cf. Gina Kolata, "Even a Lab Mouse Needs an Agent," New York Times, 26 January 1997, E5.
9. H.S. Morse, III, ed., "Introduction: The Origins of Inbred Mice," New York: Academic Press, 1978; M.B. Shimkin, "A.E.C. Lathrop (1868-1918): Mouse Woman of Granby," Cancer Research June 1975, 35: 1597-98. Cf. Gina Kolata, "Even a Lab Mouse Needs an Agent," New York Times, 26 January 1997, E5.
10. Garland Allen, "The Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor: An Essay in Institutional History, Osiris," 2nd series, 2 (1986), 225-264, esp. p. 230-31; see also David Micklos, et al., The First Hundred Years: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. (Cold Spring Harbor: CSHL/ Second Century Fund, 1988).
11. Garland Allen, "The Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor: An Essay in Institutional History, Osiris," 2nd series, 2 (1986), 225-264, esp. p. 230-31; see also David Micklos, et al., The First Hundred Years: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. (Cold Spring Harbor: CSHL/ Second Century Fund, 1988).
12. Emelia Vicari took over MacDowell's rat colonies during the war, so data collection proceeded virtually uninterruptedly until his return; CBD to E.C. MacDowell, 2 May 1912 plus MacDowell's [undated] reply; ECM to CBD, ? July 1914 and 24 September 1914; CBD to ECM, 17 April 1918 plus various letters from ECM to CBD during his wartime service in France; all C.B. Davenport Papers (Cold Spring Harbor Series), American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, PA (hereafter, CBD-APS); cf. "Alcohol and Sex Ratios," Am. Nat. 62, 48-54, 1928.
13. CCL to C.B. Davenport, ? 1918 [probably December]; MacDowell to Davenport, 2 September 1919 both mention plans for a dog breeding colony: CBD-APS, Cold Spring Harbor Series; Cf. Little "A Note on the Origin of Piebald Spotting in Dogs," J. Hered., 11 (1920), 12-15.
14. LCD to CCL, 6 June 1929, L.C. Dunn Papers, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (hereafter, LCD-APS); cf. Dunn, "A New Series of Allelomorphs in Mice," Nature, 129: 130, 1932, and "Analysis of a Case of Mosaicism in the House Mouse." J. Genet. 29, 317-326, 1934. For a sample of Gates' work at the SEE, see Gates and Elizabeth Lord, "Shaker: A New Mutation in the House Mouse," Am. Nat., 63, 435, 1929.
15. LCD to CCL, 6 June 1929, L.C. Dunn Papers, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (hereafter, LCD-APS); cf. Dunn, "A New Series of Allelomorphs in Mice," Nature, 129: 130, 1932, and "Analysis of a Case of Mosaicism in the House Mouse." J. Genet. 29, 317-326, 1934. For a sample of Gates' work at the SEE, see Gates and Elizabeth Lord, "Shaker: A New Mutation in the House Mouse," Am. Nat., 63, 435, 1929.
16. LCD to CCL, 6 June 1929, L.C. Dunn Papers, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (hereafter, LCD-APS); cf. Dunn, "A New Series of Allelomorphs in Mice," Nature, 129: 130, 1932, and "Analysis of a Case of Mosaicism in the House Mouse." J. Genet. 29, 317-326, 1934. For a sample of Gates' work at the SEE, see Gates and Elizabeth Lord, "Shaker: A New Mutation in the House Mouse," Am. Nat., 63, 435, 1929.
17. See "Memorandum for Dr. MacDowell," 16 December 1926; CCL to CBD, [no month and day], 1918 and 26 May 1918 (re: the new female assistants and their own research interests); CBD to CCL, 27 May 1919; ECM to CBD, 30 July 1924, cf. ECM's typescript Project Description's c. 1923-24 on "Alcohol and Reproduction," "Abnormal Young in Alcohol Experiments," and "Susceptibility to Alcohol Intoxication:" all from CBD-APS. Margaret Rossiter notes that Ann Morgan was among the "master grantswomen" of her generation, obtaining significant sums for her zoological research from the Rocke-feller Foundation: see Rossiter, Women Scientists in America: Struggles and Strategies to 1940 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982), p. 174, n. 21.
18. Cf. Davenport's "Memorandum for Dr. MacDowell," 16 December 1926 and CCL to CBD, [no month and no day], 1928 and 26 May 1918: both from CBD-APS.
19. "Mouse Club Newsletters," for 1921-22 in Box 732 and 739, Clarence Cook Little Papers, Raymond Fogler Library, University of Maine, Orono (hereafter, CCL-UMO); also on the founding of the Mouse Club, see E.S. Russell. "Origins and History of Mouse Inbred Strains: Contributions of Clarence Cook Little," in H.S. Morse, ed., Origins [cit. n. 3], p. 33-43. Russell says Joseph Murray, one of Little's students at the University of Maine, remembers Little starting this organization. Elizabeth Russell herself recalls this group as the "Mouse Men of America" or the "Founders Club;" see also Oral History Interview with Elizabeth Russell, 24 June 1993, Bar Harbor, ME by author; and Oral History Interview with Elizabeth Russell, Jackson Laboratory Oral History Collection, American Philosophical Library, Philadelphia (hereafter, JLOH-APS), p. 13; CCL to CBD, 14 January 1921; CBD-APS.
20. "Mouse Club Newsletters," for 1921-22 in Box 732 and 739, Clarence Cook Little Papers, Raymond Fogler Library, University of Maine, Orono (hereafter, CCL-UMO); also on the founding of the Mouse Club, see E.S. Russell. "Origins and History of Mouse Inbred Strains: Contributions of Clarence Cook Little," in H.S. Morse, ed., Origins [cit. n. 3], p. 33-43. Russell says Joseph Murray, one of Little's students at the University of Maine, remembers Little starting this organization. Elizabeth Russell herself recalls this group as the "Mouse Men of America" or the "Founders Club;" see also Oral History Interview with Elizabeth Russell, 24 June 1993, Bar Harbor, ME by author; and Oral History Interview with Elizabeth Russell, Jackson Laboratory Oral History Collection, American Philosophical Library, Philadelphia (hereafter, JLOH-APS), p. 13; CCL to CBD, 14 January 1921; CBD-APS.
21. "Mouse Club Newsletters," for 1921-22 in Box 732 and 739, Clarence Cook Little Papers, Raymond Fogler Library, University of Maine, Orono (hereafter, CCL-UMO); also on the founding of the Mouse Club, see E.S. Russell. "Origins and History of Mouse Inbred Strains: Contributions of Clarence Cook Little," in H.S. Morse, ed., Origins [cit. n. 3], p. 33-43. Russell says Joseph Murray, one of Little's students at the University of Maine, remembers Little starting this organization. Elizabeth Russell herself recalls this group as the "Mouse Men of America" or the "Founders Club;" see also Oral History Interview with Elizabeth Russell, 24 June 1993, Bar Harbor, ME by author; and Oral History Interview with Elizabeth Russell, Jackson Laboratory Oral History Collection, American Philosophical Library, Philadelphia (hereafter, JLOH-APS), p. 13; CCL to CBD, 14 January 1921; CBD-APS.
22. "Mouse Club Newsletters," for 1921-22 in Box 732 and 739, Clarence Cook Little Papers, Raymond Fogler Library, University of Maine, Orono (hereafter, CCL-UMO); also on the founding of the Mouse Club, see E.S. Russell. "Origins and History of Mouse Inbred Strains: Contributions of Clarence Cook Little," in H.S. Morse, ed., Origins [cit. n. 3], p. 33-43. Russell says Joseph Murray, one of Little's students at the University of Maine, remembers Little starting this organization. Elizabeth Russell herself recalls this group as the "Mouse Men of America" or the "Founders Club;" see also Oral History Interview with Elizabeth Russell, 24 June 1993, Bar Harbor, ME by author; and Oral History Interview with Elizabeth Russell, Jackson Laboratory Oral History Collection, American Philosophical Library, Philadelphia (hereafter, JLOH-APS), p. 13; CCL to CBD, 14 January 1921; CBD-APS.
23. On the Drosophila Information Service and the maize geneticists' newsletter, see Robert E. Kohler, Lords of the Fly: Drosophila and the Experimental Life (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1994), pp. 162-167.
24. Mouse Club News Letters, dated 1922, Box 739 and Box 732, CCL-UMO; on the Little-Davenport clash that led to Little's departure, see the series of correspondence between them for March 1921 to May 1922, CBD-APS: in short, Davenport appeared to resent Little's attempts to take charge of the most mundane administrative situations (for example, disciplining lazy assistants) as well as the most delicate (such as negotiations with the Carnegie Foundation).
25. ECM to CBD, 31 August 1922 and 31 August 1923, where MacDowell describes himself as a "mouse geneticist;" cf. ECM's typescript Project Descriptions, 1923-24, as well as for 1926, "Phenomena of Gestation:" all CBD-APS.
26. See "Report on the Research Activities of E.C. MacDowell, 1928" [typescript] and ECM's "Projects, 1927-28:" both CBD-APS. Notably, these reports indicate that MacDowell was not just interested in mutant studies but also such complicated physiological genetics problems as somatic versus germinal mutation and differences in growth patterns of various inbred mouse strains. In retrospect, Snell took another teaching position at Brown instead of coming to Cold Spring Harbor under the advice of G.E. Parker, who emphasized the importance of training graduate students; ironically, Snell never had any graduate students: see George Snell to LCD, 14 March 1930, LCD-APS and Oral History Interview with George Snell, 31 May 1986, JLOH-APS.
27. See "Report on the Research Activities of E.C. MacDowell, 1928" [typescript] and ECM's "Projects, 1927-28:" both CBD-APS. Notably, these reports indicate that MacDowell was not just interested in mutant studies but also such complicated physiological genetics problems as somatic versus germinal mutation and differences in growth patterns of various inbred mouse strains. In retrospect, Snell took another teaching position at Brown instead of coming to Cold Spring Harbor under the advice of G.E. Parker, who emphasized the importance of training graduate students; ironically, Snell never had any graduate students: see George Snell to LCD, 14 March 1930, LCD-APS and Oral History Interview with George Snell, 31 May 1986, JLOH-APS.
28. On non-CSH Mouse Club meetings, see CCL to LCD, 12 December 1928, LCD-APS.