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Sewall Green Wright (December 21, 1889 - March 3, 1988) was one
of the primary founders of population genetics which led to
the modern evolutionary synthesis. In a long career, he invented
much of the theory of genetic drift (also known as the "Sewall Wright
effect") and developed the inbreeding coefficient and many of its applications. Wright was the developer of adaptive surfaces
(fitness landscapes), and he emphasized the importance of the
interaction of genetic drift and natural selection in determining
the outcome of evolution. He analogized natural selection to processes in animal
and plant breeding, and his work on population genetics theory greatly influenced Jay Lush, who did the pioneering work on use of
quantitative genetics in animal and plant breeding. He
was born in Galesburg, Illinois. His career was spent at
the United States
Department of Agriculture (1915-1925), the University of
Chicago (1926-1955), and the University of
Wisconsin (1955-1988). Wright also did extensive breeding experiments with guinea pigs, and appreciated by 1917 that genes controlled the production
of enzymes. Many of his Ph.D. students became important figures in the development of mammalian genetics.
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