Abstract
BackgroundScholars agree that Torbjörn Caspersson’s lab at the Institute of Medical Cell Research and Genetics at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, played a key role in the first description of the so-called Q-banding technique. It laid the foundation for a new era of cytogenetic diagnostics and had a lasting impact in several areas of biology and medicine.MethodsBased on a mixed-method approach, essential aspects of the history of human cytogenetics are considered via primary and secondary analysis of biographical interviews as well as the qualitative evaluation of bibliometrics. Drawing on interviews with colleagues of lab member Lore Zech (1923–2013) and contemporary publications, this paper illuminates the role of and contribution by Zech: To what extent is the discovery attached to her and what does her legacy look like today?ResultsThe analysis of the contemporary witness interviews with colleagues, students and junior researchers shows that Lore Zech was a committed member of Caspersson's research group. In addition, memoirs by contemporary colleagues describe her outstanding skills in microscopy. The different sources paint a multifaceted picture. In addition to the historians' patterns of interpretation, different legacies can also be found within the peer group.ConclusionsWe argue that Zech represent the type of scientist who, although her research was acknowledged with several prizes, so far has not been part of the canon of pioneers of international cytogenetics.
Highlights
Everyone knows iconographic representations of the chromosome set, but very few in the international research community can trace the origins around the discovery of specific banding patterns on human chromosomes
Perspectives on Zech by human‐ and cytogeneticists Written sources show that Zech was in close contact with German-speaking researchers, including Thomas Cremer, Christa Fonatsch, Simone Heidemann, Anna Jauch, Peter Lichter, Brigitte Schlegelberger and Evelin Schröck
The geneticist Fonatsch ranked Lore Zech as one of the scientists who had had the greatest influence on her own career: “and the professors (Lore) Zech and Janet Rowley and Margareta Mikkelsen from Denmark... those are the most important ones...”
Summary
Based on a mixed-method approach, essential aspects of the history of human cytogenetics are considered via primary and secondary analysis of biographical interviews as well as the qualitative evaluation of bibliometrics. Drawing on interviews with colleagues of lab member Lore Zech (1923–2013) and contemporary publications, this paper illuminates the role of and contribution by Zech: To what extent is the discovery attached to her and what does her legacy look like today?
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