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July 7, 2016
Nettie Stevens’ 155th birthday
What are the genetics behind gender?
This simple question drove the work of Nettie Stevens. Building on research by Edmund Beecher Wilson and Thomas Hunt Morgan at Bryn Mawr, Stevens discovered the connection between chromosomes and physicality. Her breakthrough evolved into the XY sex-determination system, now taught in classrooms around the world.
Stevens died of breast cancer 104 years ago, but her discovery lives on in today’s Doodle.
Doodle by Lydia Nichols