Dubzansky (Dubzansky is a famous American genetics professor and one of Morgan's main assistants) has arranged a place for me. He also warmly introduced Morgan's laboratory to me and welcomed me on behalf of Morgan himself. All this immediately made me feel at home. In this way, I started studying abroad at Caltech.
When I first met Morgan, he was already a well-known Nobel Prize winner in Physiology and Medicine. This bearded and tall American scholar is very modest and enthusiastic in front of students and colleagues. This kind of atmosphere soon infected me, which helped me to get rid of my anxiety, shyness, embarrassment and anxiety when I first arrived, and to integrate into the serious, nervous, United and friendly group with Morgan as the core.
Morgan left a deep and unforgettable impression on me.
Morgan is an old man with quick thinking, no conservatism, strong judgment and a sense of humor. At the same time, he is a scientist with wide interests and practical interests.
Throughout his scientific career, his thoughts have been galloping in different fields of biology, leaving successful footprints everywhere. This series of outstanding contributions made by him should be attributed to his serious scientific attitude and his down-to-earth and earnest verification style in exploring the unknown world of science.
Strictly speaking, any progress and achievement in science is the result of group behavior.
Morgan is not only an outstanding scientist, but also an outstanding organizer.
He himself is the founder of the famous genetic theory, and the chromosome genetic theory has been recognized through his scientific argumentation. Morgan's wisdom lies in his foresight. When Morgan's laboratory is famous for its outstanding research results in international academic circles, Morgan has invested a lot of energy to train the next generation, the successor of the genetic cause. Morgan's laboratory has a unique method of cultivating talents. In the laboratory group known as the "fly room" by the world, Morgan arranged his eldest disciple to give concrete guidance to the students, generation after generation, and so on. In Morgan's laboratory, the research topic is decided by the students themselves, and the tutor only gives guidance on the key points. The research route and documents that need reference are collected by students themselves, which gives full play to students' creative thinking. This teaching method is called "no package teaching".
"Teaching without package" coincides with the idea advocated by the ancients in China that "the teacher need not be superior and the disciple need not be inferior to the teacher". Its essence is to encourage students to be better than you and catch up with their teachers.
Therefore, in such a United, friendly, mutual understanding and mutual respect scientific research group, many outstanding scientists stand out. Among Morgan's three disciples, Stophant and Bridge shared the Nobel Prize with their teachers, while Mill was on the podium for his outstanding achievements in creating radiogenetics. The famous "sex-linked genetic phenomenon" and "the third law of genetics (that is, the law of chain exchange)" are the crystallization of Morgan's research with his first generation of students.
I often say that I am lucky to learn and meet a famous teacher.
When I entered Morgan's laboratory, it was the heyday of chromosome genetics, and I decided to open up the field of evolutionary genetics based on Drosophila. Under the care of 68-year-old Morgan and the direct guidance of Dubzhansky, I climbed and marched on the rugged road of genetic science founded by Austrian priest Mendel, seeking and exploring the true meaning of life. At that time, I used the latest research results of giant salivary gland chromosomes of Drosophila, which was just discovered at that time, to analyze the chromosome structure and variation within and between species of Drosophila with interest, and to explore the genetic relationship of different species, thus deepening the understanding of evolutionary mechanism.
During this period, I published more than 10 influential papers alone or in cooperation with my direct tutors Dubzansky and Stophant, as well as French and German geneticists studying in Morgan Lab. 1936, my doctoral thesis "Cytogenetic Atlas of Autochromosomes in Drosophila" passed the defense and was awarded the doctorate. I am 27 years old.