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Edith Rebecca Saunders FLS (14 October 1865 – 6 June 1945) was a British geneticist and plant anatomist. Described by J. B. S. Haldane as the "Mother of British Plant Genetics", she played an active role in the re-discovery of Mendel's laws of heredity, the understanding of trait inheritance in plants, and was the first collaborator of the geneticist
She continued to post-graduate research, and served as a demonstrator at the Balfour Biological Laboratory for Women between 1888 and 1890 (where students from Newnham and Girton colleges received preparation for the Natural Sciences Tripos). She was the last director of that Laboratory between 1890 and 1914.
She was also director of studies at Girton College (1904–1914) and Newnham College (1918–1925).
She was appointed a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society from which she received the Banksian Medal in 1906. In 1905 she was one of the first women elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, later serving on its council (1910 - 1915) and as vice-president during 1912- 1913.
In 1920 she was the president of the botanical section of the
Discovery and Types of Genetic Linkage
from Scitable She also did extensive work in plant anatomy, particularly concerning
William Bateson
William Bateson (8 August 1861 – 8 February 1926) was an English biologist who was the first person to use the term genetics to describe the study of heredity, and the chief populariser of the ideas of Gregor Mendel following their rediscover ...
. She also developed extensive work on flower anatomy, particularly focusing on the gynoecia
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
, the female reproductive organs of flowers.
Biography
Saunders was born on 14 October 1865 inBrighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, England. She was educated first at Handsworth Ladies' College and in 1884 she entered the female-only Newnham College, Cambridge. There, she attended both Part I (in 1887) and II (in 1888) of the Natural Sciences Tripos
The Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, w ...
.
She continued to post-graduate research, and served as a demonstrator at the Balfour Biological Laboratory for Women between 1888 and 1890 (where students from Newnham and Girton colleges received preparation for the Natural Sciences Tripos). She was the last director of that Laboratory between 1890 and 1914.
She was also director of studies at Girton College (1904–1914) and Newnham College (1918–1925).
She was appointed a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society from which she received the Banksian Medal in 1906. In 1905 she was one of the first women elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, later serving on its council (1910 - 1915) and as vice-president during 1912- 1913.
In 1920 she was the president of the botanical section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
. She also served as president of the Genetics Society, between 1936 and 1938.
During World War II she served as a volunteer helping the Allied forces. She died soon after returning to Britain, in 1945, after suffering injuries in a bicycle accident.
Research
Saunders' earlier research focused on genetics. Many of her genetic experiments led to her andWilliam Bateson
William Bateson (8 August 1861 – 8 February 1926) was an English biologist who was the first person to use the term genetics to describe the study of heredity, and the chief populariser of the ideas of Gregor Mendel following their rediscover ...
defining important terms like "allelomorphs" (nowadays referred to as alleles), heterozygote and homozygote. Furthermore, together with Bateson and Reginald Punnett she co-discovered genetic linkage
Genetic linkage is the tendency of DNA sequences that are close together on a chromosome to be inherited together during the meiosis phase of sexual reproduction. Two genetic markers that are physically near to each other are unlikely to be separ ...
.from Scitable She also did extensive work in plant anatomy, particularly concerning
gynoecia
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
, having published several articles on the subject (noteworthy is her series of articles on "Illustrations of Carpel Polymorphism" published in the journal New Phytologist between 1928 and 1931).
See also
*Dorothea Pertz
Dorothea Frances Matilda "Dora" Pertz FLS (14 March 1859 – 6 March 1939) was a British botanist. She co-authored five papers with Francis Darwin, Charles Darwin's son. She was made a Fellow of the Linnean Society, among the first women ad ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Edith Rebecca 1865 births 1945 deaths British geneticists History of genetics People from Brighton and Hove Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Women geneticists