In the early 1950s, several families sought advice from experts at the University of Michigan’s Heredity Clinic. Their children were born with physical abnormalities, including cleft palates and limb defects, or showed signs of mental illnesses, like schizophrenia or “insanity,” as they grew older.
Parents who ventured to the clinic wanted to know: If they were to have another child, what were the odds this would happen again?
James V. Neel was a leading physician at the Heredity Clinic who consulted with these families. A geneticist at the Medical School’s Institute of Human Biology, Neel was a leading researcher in the ways human genetics impact development.
“When a child is born with a congenital abnormality, some people feel the next child is certain to be doomed. Others feel the abnormality is ‘out of the parents’ systems’ and there is no more danger,” Neel said.
Neither of these assertions was correct, Neel explained. He said genetics inherited by both parents played a role in determining the chances of developmental abnormalities.
Neel’s groundbreaking research drove him to petition the Medical School to establish a department dedicated to the study and teaching of genetics with the hopes of becoming an international leader in the field.
The U-M Department of Genetics officially opened in 1956, the first department in the U.S. dedicated to human genetics.
Neel recruited a broad range of faculty to cover a variety of genetic specialties, including viral and bacterial genetics, model organism genetics, somatic cell genetics, familial genetics and population genetics. He chaired the department until his retirement in 1984.
During his time leading the department, Neel propelled research surrounding the ways in which the environment can impact genetics.
“Almost any trait can in part be influenced by heredity. Almost all can be altered by the environment,” Neel said.
Some of his most notable research at U-M included studies of radiation-altering gene composition. By examining survivors of atomic bombs from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Neel established a clear framework for the ways in which radiation can cause lasting effects on human genetics.
— Katie Kelton, The University Record
