author
Calvin B. (Calvin Blackman) Bridges
1889–1938
A key figure in the early days of genetics, he helped turn the humble fruit fly into one of science’s most powerful research tools. His careful experiments gave strong support to the idea that genes are carried on chromosomes.
1 Audiobook
Sex-linked Inheritance in Drosophila
by Thomas Hunt Morgan, Calvin B. (Calvin Blackman) Bridges
About the author
Born in Schuyler Falls, New York, in 1889, Calvin Blackman Bridges became one of the standout members of Thomas Hunt Morgan’s famous “Fly Room” at Columbia University. Working with Drosophila melanogaster, he helped establish the chromosomal basis of heredity and sex, and his research became part of the foundation of modern genetics.
Bridges was known not only for sharp experimental work but also for practical ingenuity. Sources credit him with developing methods that made fruit flies easier to breed, sort, and study in the lab, helping make Drosophila a central model organism for genetic research. He later continued his work at the California Institute of Technology after Morgan’s lab moved west.
He died in Los Angeles in 1938 at the age of 49. Though his life was relatively short, his work left a lasting mark on biology, especially in chromosome research and gene mapping.