Mogens Christian Wanning Westergaard

Mogens Christian Wanning Westergaard (12 June 1912 – 6 August 1975) was a Danish geneticist and cytogeneticist known for pioneering studies of sex determination in plants, mutagenesis in fungi, and the cytological mechanisms of meiosis. His research on the dioecious plant Melandrium album helped establish that the presence of a Y chromosome determines male sex in the species. This model helped explain the origin of plant sex chromosomes and predicted the evolution of suppressed recombination between X and Y chromosomes.

Related studies in Silene demonstrated that the Y chromosome carries a strong male-determining factor capable of directing male development even in individuals with multiple X chromosomes. In 1951, he became the subject of international attention when the United States denied him entry to attend a genetics conference because of a previous Communist Party affiliation. During the German occupation of Denmark in World War II, Westergaard joined the Danish resistance movement.

According to records from the Danish Resistance Database, he participated in underground resistance activities and was arrested by German authorities in 1944, spending time in the Frøslev internment camp.

Selected publications

Westergaard, M. (1946). "Aberrant Y chromosomes and sex expression in Melandrium album." Hereditas. 32 (3–4): 419–443. doi:10.1111/j.1601-5223.1946.tb02784.x. PMID 20998142.

Westergaard, M.; Mitchell, H. K. (1947). "Neurospora V. A synthetic medium favoring sexual reproduction." American Journal of Botany. 34: 573–577. doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1947.tb13032.x.

Westergaard, M. (1958). "The mechanism of sex determination in dioecious flowering plants." Advances in Genetics. 9: 217–281. doi:10.1016/S0065-2660(08)60163-7.

Jensen, K.; Kirk, I.; Kølmark, G.; Westergaard, M. (1951). "Chemically induced mutations in Neurospora." Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology. 16: 245–261. doi:10.1101/SQB.1951.016.01.020.