Calvin Bridges

Calvin Blackman Bridges (January 11 1889 - December 27 1938) was an American scientist, known for his contributions to the field of genetics. Along with Alfred Sturtevant and H.J. Muller, Bridges was part of the famous fly room of Thomas Hunt Morgan at Columbia University.

Bridges wrote a masterful Ph.D. thesis on "Non-disjunction as proof of the chromosome theory of heredity." It appeared as the first paper in the first issue of the journal Genetics in 1916.

His work with sex linked traits in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster suggested that chromosomes contained genes. Later Nettie Maria Stephens was able to prove this hypothesis by examining the chromosomes of the fruit flies. Bridges wrote a couple of papers presenting the proof. He thanked her as "Miss Stevens" without stating what her contribution was nor referring to her PhD.

Bridges' best-known contribution among Drosophila researchers is his observation and documentation of the polytene chromosomes found in larval salivary gland cells. The banding patterns of these chromosomes are still used as genetic landmarks by contemporary researchers.

character & death
Bridges was born on January 11 1889 in Schuyler Falls, New York. He died on December 27 1938 in Los Angeles, California.

Bridges was a good-looking and sexually active man. Kohler says "he was famous for his flamboyant lifestyle; he left his wife and children in the mid-20s (but continued to support them), got a batchelor pad and a vasectomy; propositioned every woman he met, indiscriminately... his extraordinary good looks and innocence were irresistible" (Kohler 1994 p113).

His early death has been attributed to a heart attack, and to syphilis; on this subject Allen says "Bridges had a serious heart attack on December 6, 1938, and died three weeks later on the 27th... Post-mortem showed that the valves of the heart had become infected and were gradually breaking up" (Allen 1978 p380). It is possible, then, that both stories are true, since syphilis becomes generally invasive in its tertiary stage. The symptoms of tertiary syphilis are diverse; the disease often attacks the aorta rather than the valves of the heart. There are no reports of Bridges suffering neurological problems, though much may have been suppressed by his friends and colleagues. The verdict is open.