November 6, 1946: Celebrate the Birthday of American Genetictist Douglas C. Wallace

Douglas Cecil Wallace (November 6, 1946 – present) is an American geneticist known for his study in mitochondrial DNA. In 1975, Wallace and the other associate researchers proved for the first time that mutations on mitochondrial DNA region are related to genetic disorders. Later in 1990 he described a mitochondrial DNA mutation as the cause of a specific form of myoclonic epilepsy, and the discovery swiftly raised the attention in medicine and academia. Wallance was the first scientist to use human mitochondrial DNA as a molecular marker, and has greatly contributed to the study of the mitochondrial genome in evolution, DNA paternity testing, historical research, and genetic medicine.

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_C._Wallace

Image Source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_C._Wallace

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GeneOnline