Charles William Metz

Charles William Metz (February 17, 1889 – February 25, 1975) was an American geneticist known for his work on chromosome behavior and non-Mendelian inheritance, particularly in the fungus gnat Bradysia (formerly Sciara). He was among the early generation of geneticists trained in the school of Thomas Hunt Morgan and contributed to the cytogenetic analysis of chromosome segregation and sex determination.

Early life and education Metz earned his Ph.D. in 1916 in the laboratory of Thomas Hunt Morgan at Columbia University, where he initially worked on Drosophila genetics.

Metz grew up in Wyoming, where his family was established in the region; his brother, Percy W. Metz, later became a lawyer and judge associated with the prosecution of the Spring Creek Raid.

Career Following his doctoral work, Metz was associated with the Carnegie Institution of Washington, including its Department of Genetics at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He later held academic positions at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as professor and chair of zoology and directed the zoological laboratory.

Metz was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1948.

Research Metz’s early work was in Drosophila genetics, but he soon shifted to the fungus gnat Bradysia (Sciara), which became his primary model system. He established laboratory stocks of this organism and studied it throughout his career.

Metz discovered that chromosomes in male meiosis of Bradysia undergo non-random segregation, in contrast to the expectations of Mendelian inheritance. These studies contributed to understanding chromosome behavior, sex determination, and deviations from classical Mendelian inheritance.

Metz also investigated sex determination mechanisms in Bradysia, showing that sex is determined by the maternal genotype and involves selective elimination of X chromosomes during early embryogenesis. Alburn Stafford Metz, , and Jane Metz, who married molecular biologist Emile Zuckerkandl.

Selected publications