Gene thinking

The use of the word gene has influenced how we think and speak about heredity. Too often we hear of a ‘gene for this’ and a ‘gene for that’. Given a name, a gene has become a specific thing. The word was first coined in 1909 by Wilhelm Johannsen (1857-1927). In his seminal work, Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) referred only to 'determinants of heredity'. When Johannes coined the term, he had no improved evidence of what the ‘determinants of heredity’ were. He did not know whether they were singular, multiple, situated in one place or distributed and working in concert. Whereas a gene is something specific, a determinant can be an array, a set of factors or even a programme of contributing factors. Mendel’s terminology may still be the more accurate description. At least we can choose to think in Mendel’s terms if the rest of the world uses Johannsen’s ‘shorthand’ term.