Thomas Hunt Morgan

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Thomas Hunt Morgan spent the summers of 1888 and 1889 at the US Fish Commission in Woods Hole, studying ascidians. In 1890, he moved to the MBLand studied the burrowing invertebrate Balanoglossus and a parade of other marine organisms.

Morgan at bench
1930
morgan house
Late 1910s

He then spent almost every summer at the MBLwith his family. The Morgan home became a place for students and senior researchers to gather informally to discuss techniques, choice of organisms, and ideas.

Morgan asked how organisms develop and was fascinated by the abilities of planarians, hydra, and other organisms to regenerate after they were injured. In his experiments, he chopped individuals into bits and watched them rebuild the missing parts.

hydra
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Hydra

Wikimedia Commons3

planarian
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Planarian

Wikimedia Commons4

This led him to ask whether the existing cells each undergo changes to take on different roles, or whether they stay the same while new cells replace the missing parts.

morgan with daughters
Morgan and his daughters c. 1918

By 1901, his mastery of marine organism research and microscopy led to dozens of articles and a major book on Regeneration.

regeneration HoverTouch to magnify

Morgan 19016

MBLRare Books Collection

Eventually, Morgan鈥檚 work on Drosophila fruit flies won him a Nobel Prize and helped to establish the field of genetics.

prizes HoverTouch to magnify
Morgan's Nobel Prize Medal (left) and Diploma (right) from 1933
ciona
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Ciona

Wikimedia Commons8

Nonetheless, Morgan stated his favorite research was studying reproduction and development in the sea squirt Ciona.

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Download Thomas Hunt Morgan

1.听Still Image: "Portrait of Thomas Hunt Morgan at microscope", 5/15/2012, .

2. Still Image: "Backyard of Thomas Hunt Morgan's home in Woods Hole Backyard of Thomas Hunt Morgan's home in Woods Hole", 5/15/2012, .听

3. Wikimedia Commons contributors, "File:Hydra viridissima2.jpg,"听Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository,听听(accessed October 11, 2021).

4. Wikimedia Commons contributors, "File:Planaria torva.jpg,"听Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository,听听(accessed October 11, 2021).

5. Still Image: "Thomas Hunt Morgan with daughters", 5/15/2012, .

6. Morgan, Thomas Hunt. Regeneration. London: The Macmillan Company, 1901. .

7. Photograph of Nobel Medal courtesy of Matthew Person.

8. Wikimedia Commons contributors, "File:Ciona robusta .jpg,"听Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository,听听(accessed October 11, 2021).