Dan Lindsley, a Drosophila geneticist and longtime professor at the University of California, San Diego, died last Friday (June 22). He was 93.
“Dan Lindsley was one of the preeminent geneticists of the 20th century,” says William McGinnis, dean of biological sciences at UCSD, in an email to The Scientist. “Dan was one of the few geneticists that stuck with Drosophila during the 1950s-70s when it was an unpopular ‘model organism.’ During this time, Dan helped to create a variety of chromosomal ‘tools’ that have since allowed Drosophila researchers to revolutionize the understanding of many biological systems common to all animals including humans.”
Lindsley was in the military during World War II, and when he later went to college he initially set out to become a doctor. Transferring from the University of Arkansas to the University of Missouri, Lindsley didn’t have enough credits for medical school, so he opted to ...
