Karl Sax (November 2, 1892 – October 8, 1973) was an American botanist and geneticist, noted for his research in

cytogenetics Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...

and the effect of radiation on

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...

Early life and education

Sax was born in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the ...

in 1892. His parents were pioneer farmers and active in civic affairs; his father was the mayor of

Colville, Washington Colville is a city in Stevens County, Washington, United States. The population was 4,673 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stevens County. History John Work, an agent for The Hudson's Bay Company, established Fort Colvile near t ...

. Sax's early education was in the Colville schools, and in 1912 he continued his studies at

Washington State College Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant univer ...

. He majored in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

, and his subsequent decision to undertake graduate work was influenced by the botanist and plant breeder Edward Gaines. In college, he met and married Hally Jolivette, his

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

teacher, and they later had three sons. Following his graduation, Hally accepted a position at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial ...

Wellesley, Massachusetts Wellesley () is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of Greater Boston. The population was 29,550 at the time of the 2020 census. Wellesley College, Babson College, and a campus of Massachusetts Bay Communit ...

, and they moved to the East Coast in 1916. Sax enrolled in the doctoral program at the

Bussey Institution The Bussey Institute (1883–1936) was a respected biological institute at Harvard University. It was named for Benjamin Bussey, who, in 1835, endowed the establishment of an undergraduate school of agriculture and horticulture and donated land in ...

Graduate School of Applied Biology at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

and completed his MA in 1917. He went on to do his doctoral work at

, receiving his D.Sc. in 1922. He served as a private in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1917 to 1918 in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Scientific career

In 1918, Sax took a job as an instructor in the Department of Genetics at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, where he worked with

E. B. Babcock Ernest Brown Babcock (July 10, 1877 – December 8, 1954) was an American plant geneticist who pioneered the under standing of plant evolution in terms of genetics. He is particularly known for seeking to understand by field investigations and e ...

on the genetics of the genus ''

Crepis ''Crepis'', commonly known in some parts of the world as hawksbeard or hawk's-beard (but not to be confused with the related genus ''Hieracium'' with a similar common name), is a genus of annual and perennial flowering plants of the family Aster ...

''. In 1920 he took an appointment at the Riverbank Laboratories in

Geneva, Illinois Geneva is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the western side of the Chicago suburbs. Per the 2020 census, the population was 21,393. Geneva is part of a tri-city area, located between S ...

working on wheat genetics, but he moved on from that job soon after when he took a position at the Maine

Agricultural Experiment Station An agricultural experiment station (AES) or agricultural research station (ARS) is a scientific research center that investigates difficulties and potential improvements to food production and agribusiness. Experiment station scientists work with ...

Orono, Maine Orono () is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. Located on the Penobscot and Stillwater rivers, it was first settled by American colonists in 1774. They named it in honor of Chief Joseph Orono, a sachem of the indigenous Penobs ...

. In 1928 he left Orono to take a teaching position in Harvard's genetics department at the Bussey Institution. However, the department was dissolved before his arrival, and he transferred to the cytology department at the University's Biological Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Contribution to radiation cytology

In 1938 Sax published a paper entitled "Chromosome Aberrations Induced by X-rays," which demonstrated that radiation could induce major genetic changes by affecting

chromosomal translocations In genetics, chromosome translocation is a phenomenon that results in unusual rearrangement of chromosomes. This includes balanced and unbalanced translocation, with two main types: reciprocal-, and Robertsonian translocation. Reciprocal translo ...

, a

chromosome abnormality A chromosomal abnormality, chromosomal anomaly, chromosomal aberration, chromosomal mutation, or chromosomal disorder, is a missing, extra, or irregular portion of chromosomal DNA. These can occur in the form of numerical abnormalities, where ther ...

. The paper is thought to mark the beginning of the field of radiation cytology, and led him to be called the "father of radiation cytology."

Plant breeding

Sax bred new varieties of ornamental trees and shrubs including ''

Malus ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone ...

'' species (both

apples An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

and

crabapples ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone of t ...

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

forsythia ''Forsythia'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the olive family Oleaceae. There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, but one native to southeastern Europe. ''Forsythia'' – also one of the plant's common names – is ...

s, and

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus '' Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The ...

. He hybridized two Japanese cherries, ''

Prunus subhirtella ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the ...

'' and ''Prunus'' x ''yedoensis,'' then back-crossed the resulting hybrid with ''P. subhirtella,'' and named his cross ''Prunus'' x 'Hally Jolivette' in honor of his wife. A cultivar of ''

Forsythia ''Forsythia'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the olive family Oleaceae. There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, but one native to southeastern Europe. ''Forsythia'' – also one of the plant's common names – is ...

'' bred by Sax was named 'Karl Sax' by a nurseryman. In 1946 he was appointed acting director of Harvard's

Arnold Arboretum The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a botanical research institution and free public park, located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1872, it is the oldest public arboretum in ...

, in 1947 becoming the director – a post he held until 1954.

Demography

Sax was also interested in human demography. In 1955 he wrote ''Standing Room Only: The Challenge to Overpopulation'', on the consequences of uncontrolled human population growth. Sax became associated with

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

and was a member of the Population Association of America.

Honors

Sax was an elected member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

. In 1966, he and Hally were co-recipients of the

Mary Soper Pope Memorial Award The Mary Soper Pope Memorial Award, informally known as the Mary Soper Pope Medal, was awarded by the Cranbrook Institute of Science of Detroit, Michigan, for notable achievement in plant sciences. It was inaugurated in 1946, and the last award wa ...

in botany."Cranbrook Institute of Science Director's Papers"
Cranbrook website. Retrieved Dec. 27, 2016. In 1959 he retired and moved to

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located about west of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation with 1.6 million residents as 2020. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropol ...

where he continued his work on plant breeding. Karl Sax died on October 8, 1973.

References

"Dr. Karl Sax Dies; Botanist Was 81"
''New York Times'', Oct. 10, 1973. *Smocovitis, V. B. Sax, Karl. 'American National Biography Online''. Oxford University Press *Swanson, C. P. 1988. Cytogenetics and Karl Sax. ''Genetics'' 119:5–7

External links

written by Carl P. Swanson and Norman H. Giles for the U.S.

, a superb source of information about Sax and his work {{DEFAULTSORT:Sax, Karl 1892 births 1973 deaths People from Spokane, Washington American botanists Arnold Arboretum American geneticists Washington State University alumni Bussey Institution alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War I People from Colville, Washington