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Description
The programme is a personal account by Prof. Sonneborn of research done on paramecium which exhibited a mechanism of inheritance not directly related to genes in the nucleus.
The programme is a personal account by Prof. Sonneborn of research done on paramecium which exhibited a mechanism of inheritance not directly related to genes in the nucleus.
| Module code and title: | S299, Genetics |
|---|---|
| Item code: | S299; 07 |
| First transmission date: | 17-05-1976 |
| Published: | 1976 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:00 |
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| Producer: | Roger Jones |
| Contributors: | Tracy Sonneborn; Robert Whittle |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Cortex; Genes; Inheritance; Microscopic single celled animal; Nucleus; Research |
| Footage description: | Prof. Sonneborn introduces the programme with an account of how he first became interested in cortical inheritance and the problems this posed. Several film shots (under magnification) of groups of paramecium. Commentary by Sonneborn explains why he chose paramecium as his experimental animal. More film shots of paramecium. Sonneborn points out the morphological features of the animal. Sonneborn uses a model of a paramecium to look in detail at the animal's cortex. He then shows still photographs of the animal which illustrate the features seen on the model. Sonneborn goes on to describe the water melon stripe paramecium, the organism which he used in his experiments. Film shots show water melon stripe paramecium. He then describes the experiments which showed that this organism did not pass on the water melon trait in the normal Mendelian way but rather that inheritance was cytoplasmic. Robert Whittle describes the effect of the water melon stripe trait on the organism. Fill shots of water melon stripe paramecium. Sonneborn describes how he worked out an explanation for this phenomenon of cortical inheritance. He uses models to illustrate his points. Sonneborn goes on to sum up the significance of his experimental results. Sonneborn, with the aid of models, describes another example of cytoplasmic inheritance in paramecium. Still photographs of the new organism also shown. Sonneborn sums up the programme with a discussion of the implications of his findings for understanding development in higher organisms. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/71950 |
| Production number: | 00525_1175 |
| Videofinder number: | 996 |
| Available to public: | no |
