Hans Winkler

Hans Karl Albert Winkler (23 April 1877 – 22 November 1945) was a German botanist. He was Professor of Botany at the University of Hamburg, and a director of that university's Institute of Botany. Winkler coined the term 'heteroploidy' in 1916. He is remembered for coining the term 'genome' in 1920,[1] by making a portmanteau of the words gene and chromosome.[2] He wrote:[1]: 165 

Ich schlage vor, für den haploiden Chromosomensatz, der im Verein mit dem zugehörigen Protoplasma die materielle Grundlage der systematischen Einheit darstellt den Ausdruck: das Genom zu verwenden ...

This may be translated as: "I propose the expression Genom for the haploid chromosome set, which, together with the pertinent protoplasm, specifies the material foundations of the species ..."[3] Among his experiments was the discovery of chimeras (also chimaeras) by grafting a black Nightshade and tomato plant and observing a shoot which displayed characteristics of both plants.

Winkler also worked at the University of Naples, in Italy, where he researched the physiology of the alga Bryopsis.[4]

He joined the NSDAP in 1937.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Hans Winkler (1920). Verbreitung und Ursache der Parthenogenesis im Pflanzen - und Tierreiche. Verlag Fischer, Jena.
  2. ^ "Genome News Network glossary".
  3. ^ Joshua Lederberg and Alexa T. McCray (2001). "'Ome Sweet 'Omics -- A Genealogical Treasury of Words" (PDF). The Scientist. 15 (7). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-29.
  4. ^ "The history of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli". Archived from the original on 2006-05-08.
  5. ^ Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-596-16048-0.
  6. ^ International Plant Names Index.  H.K.A.Winkl.