A comparative study of the reception of genetics, focusing on mouse research

Mouse genetics has played a very important role in biology during the last century since the rediscovery of Mendel's laws, especially for medical research. The genetics of mice led to tremendous advancements in modern cellular and molecular biology and their important clinical implications. However, the development of mouse genetics was not homogeneous in European and American countries. In fact, in contrast to the advancement of Anglophone countries, general and mouse genetics developed more slowly in other European countries such as France and Germany, Italy being an especially late one.

Although genetics development in Italy has been the object of several important studies, a direct comparison of such development in different countries is still lacking. In this paper we analyze this issue focusing our attention on Italy, the late acceptance of Sutton-Boveri chromosomal theory by some Italian scientists, the Italian academic organization and the delay of science caused by the first world war. We also analyze how eugenics and fascist racial laws affected the development of Italian genetics, especially the genetics of mice, causing a delay that was finally overcome only in the 50s and 60s. [Publisher's text]