George W. Beadle's One Gene-One Enzyme Hypothesis

The one gene-one enzyme hypothesis, proposed by George Wells Beadle in the US in 1941, is the theory that each gene directly produces a single enzyme, which consequently affects an individual step in a metabolic pathway. In 1941, Beadle demonstrated that one gene in a fruit fly controlled a single, specific chemical reaction in the fruit fly, which one enzyme controlled. In the 1950s, the theory that genes produce enzymes that control a single metabolic step was dubbed the one geneÐone enzyme hypothesis by Norman Horowitz, a professor at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and an associate of Beadle's. This concept helped researchers characterize genes as chemical molecules, and it helped them identify the functions of those molecules.