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The rediscovery of Mendel's laws near the beginning of the twentieth century triggered
intense interest in the principles of heredity. The chromosome theory of heredity was proven
early in the century; meanwhile, a great deal of scientific interest was directed toward
learning more about chromosomes themselves. However, defining the human diploid
chromosome number would prove more challenging than investigators initially anticipated.
Difficulties in determining the human diploid number arose for a variety of reasons. For one,
early experiments that provided evidence for the chromosome theory often used invertebrate
species that reproduced in large numbers and had a relatively low number of well-defined
chromosomes. Neither of these characteristics, of course, is a common finding in humans. In
addition, the human samples initially used for chromosome analysis were derived from fresh
testicular tissue in which haploid meiotic cells were often present. Furthermore, what
morphology could be deduced suggested that human chromosomes were more complex than
those of the model organisms studied earlier. In light of these and other factors, an erroneous
estimate by prominent cytologist Theophilus Painter dominated the field for decades, until
researchers Joe Hin Tjio and Albert Levan eventually applied new technology to identify the
true diploid number of human chromosomes.
Painter's Approach
By looking at Painter's drawings of his slides, one can appreciate how difficult this process
made it to arrive at a correct chromosome count (Figure 1). For example, Frank Ruddle
(2004), a well-respected modern cytologist, speculates that Painter failed to identify human
chromosome 1 as a single chromosome because of a staining artifact. Chromosome 1 is a
large, metacentric chromosome with a considerable amount of heterochromatin at its
centromere. Ruddle speculates that this heterochromatin failed to take up the iron
hematoxylin stain that Painter was using. Consequently, the heterochromatin appeared as a
gap between two chromosomes. Supporting this argument, Ruddle notes that chromosome 1
appears to be missing from Painter's ordered display of chromosomes in his 1923 paper
(Figure 2). Arrows that Ruddle added to Painter's original figure point to "chromosomes" that
may actually be the two arms of chromosome 1, with centromeres lacking and the two arms
approximating the right sizes for chromosome 1. This error notwithstanding, Painter's
estimate was very close to the real human diploid number of 46, and the quality of his data
was good. In light of Painter's many other contributions to cytology, the scientific community
accepted his estimate of the human chromosome number for 33 years.
Figure 3
When their classic paper was published in 1956, Tjio and Levan had already been
collaborating for several years. Albert Levan was a well-established cytologist who had
pioneered the use of colchicine for analyzing chromosomes. Colchicine is a plant-derived
toxin that arrests cells in metaphase, the point in the cell cycle at which chromosomes are
most condensed. Colchicine is toxic to animals, but Levan and others found that colchicine
allowed investigators to work with cells grown in tissue culture. Capturing cells at a specific
state of mitosis when the chromosomes are condensed and easily tracked improved the
reliability of their observations. A sample metaphase chromosome spread produced using this
method is shown in Figure 3.
Tjio and Levan used spreads such as these in their research, eventually reporting summary
data from 261 unique chromosome spreads obtained from 22 different cell cultures of fetal
lung tissue. All of the cultures were used within a few days after the tissue was obtained, thus
minimizing the possibility of long-term culture-induced artifacts of chromosome number.
The results were both clear and replicable. In the words of Tjio and Levan, "We were
surprised to find that the chromosome number 46 predominated in the tissue cultures from all
four embryos, [with] only single cases deviating from this number." Appreciating the fact that
these in vitro data may not have been representative of cells in the body (i.e., in vivo data),
Tjio and Levan also highlighted the importance of finding the same chromosome number in
spermatogenic cells from testicular samples. Within a year, Ford and Hamerton (1956) did
just that, providing confirmatory data by reporting the diploid chromosome number in human
testicular cells to be 46.
By today's standards, Tjio and Levan's initial chromosome preparations offered relatively
poor resolution of metaphase chromosomes. The gross morphology of the chromosomes was
apparent, but few other distinguishing features were clear. Nonetheless, Tjio and Levan's
determination of a human diploid number of 46 chromosomes was proven correct.
Over the next several decades, better technology made it possible to both confirm and expand
upon Tjio and Levan's results. For instance, a variety of banding techniques that were
introduced during the 1970s offered increased resolution and allowed individual
chromosomes to be distinguished from one another. Today, banding techniques such as
Giemsa-trypsin based staining are commonly used in diagnostic cytogenetics, and they can
provide a resolution greater than 5 Mb. In addition, more sophisticated (and sometimes
targeted) molecular cytogenetic analyses now offer even greater resolution for diagnostic
purposes (Trask, 2002).
Ford, C. E., & Hamerton, J. L. The chromosomes of man. Nature 178, 10201023 (1956)
doi:10.1038/1781020a0 (link to article)
Gartler, S. M. The chromosome number in humans: A brief history. Nature Reviews Genetics
7, 655660 (2006) doi:10.1038/nrg1917 (link to article)
Ruddle, F. H. Theophilus Painter: First steps toward an understanding of the human genome.
Journal of Experimental Zoology 301A, 375377 (2004) doi:10.1002/jez.a.20072
Tjio, J. H., & Levan, A. The chromosome number of man, Hereditas 42, 16 (1956)
Theophilus Painter adalah salah satu ahli sitologi unggul dari awal abad kedua puluh. Seperti banyak
ahli sitologi waktu, Painter itu sangat tertarik pada keturunan manusia, dan bunga ini didorong upaya
untuk menentukan jumlah diploid kromosom manusia.
Pendekatan pelukis
Painter mulai penyelidikan tentang jumlah kromosom manusia dengan mendapatkan sampel
jaringan testis manusia, yang ditanam dalam parafin dan kemudian diiris menjadi bagian
tipis. Selanjutnya, ia ditransfer ini bagian serial untuk slide mikroskop kaca dan diwarnai
mereka untuk memungkinkan visualisasi kromosom. Sifat percobaan ini berarti bahwa jarang
untuk semua kromosom dalam inti diberikan kepada divisualisasikan secara bersamaan.
Akibatnya, rekonstruksi inti utuh itu perlu, dan itu melibatkan perakitan data dari bagian
berturut-turut. Untuk lebih rumit, jaringan dipelajari oleh Painter diperoleh dari dilembagakan
individu yang cenderung memiliki konstitusional penyimpangan kromosom numerik. Dengan
demikian, laporan pelukis dari diploid jumlah kromosom manusia dari 48 pada tahun 1923
memiliki lebih dari satu kemungkinan sumber kesalahan.
Analisis Metode Painter
Gambar 1: metafase spermatogonium Manusia dalam sel mitosis.
Kamera Lucida gambar dari Painter, 1923.
Hak Cipta 1923 John Wiley & Sons. Painter, T. Studi di spermatogenesis mamalia, II. The
spermatogenesis manusia. Journal of Experimental Zoologi 37: 291-338.
Dengan melihat gambar Painter slide nya , orang dapat menghargai betapa sulitnya proses ini berhasil
sampai pada hitungan kromosom yang benar ( Gambar 1 ) . Misalnya , Frank Ruddle ( 2004) , sebuah
cytologist modern yang dihormati , berspekulasi Painter yang gagal untuk mengidentifikasi
kromosom manusia 1 sebagai kromosom tunggal karena artefak pewarnaan . Kromosom 1 adalah
besar , kromosom metasentrik dengan sejumlah besar heterochromatin di sentromer nya . Ruddle
berspekulasi bahwa heterochromatin ini gagal untuk mengambil hematoxylin besi noda Painter yang
menggunakan . Akibatnya , heterochromatin muncul sebagai kesenjangan antara dua kromosom .
Pendukung argumen ini , catatan Ruddle bahwa kromosom 1 tampaknya hilang dari tampilan Painter
memerintahkan kromosom dalam makalahnya 1923 ( Gambar 2 ) . Panah yang Ruddle ditambahkan
ke titik sosok aslinya Painter untuk " kromosom " yang sebenarnya mungkin dua lengan kromosom 1 ,
dengan sentromer kurang dan dua lengan yang mendekati ukuran yang tepat untuk kromosom 1 .
Kesalahan Meskipun demikian , perkiraan Painter sangat dekat dengan jumlah diploid manusia yang
nyata dari 46 , dan kualitas data nya baik . Dalam terang Painter banyak kontribusi lain untuk sitologi
, masyarakat ilmiah menerima estimasinya jumlah kromosom manusia selama 33 tahun .
Tjio dan Levan Gunakan Peningkatan Metode Membangun Nomor Kromosom sebagai 46
Dalam bekerja dekade setelah Painter , para ilmuwan terus menyempurnakan metode mereka untuk
mempersiapkan kromosom untuk mikroskopi . Sectioning parafin-embedded jaringan diawetkan
secara bertahap digantikan dengan teknik labu , di mana spesimen jaringan kecil ditempatkan pada
slide mikroskop dan kemudian benar-benar terjepit di bawah kaca penutup untuk menghasilkan satu
lapisan sel . Pendekatan ini mendapat penerimaan yang luas karena dieliminasi setiap kebutuhan
untuk mengiris melalui jaringan dan merekonstruksi organisasi kromosom di dalam inti sel tunggal
dari beberapa bagian yang berbeda . Persiapan kromosom juga secara dramatis ditingkatkan dengan
menggabungkan pengobatan dengan larutan garam hipotonik ( dijelaskan oleh TC Hsu pada tahun
1952 ) dan fiksasi sel . Kombinasi perawatan kromosom ditingkatkan menyebar tanpa kerusakan atau
fragmentasi , sehingga memfasilitasi jumlah kromosom yang lebih baik . Bahkan , pada tahun 1956 ,
teknik ini memungkinkan peneliti Joe Hin Tjio dan Albert Levan untuk membuat perkiraan yang lebih
akurat dari jumlah kromosom manusia.