Up for auction "Mammalian Genetics" Elizabeth S. Russell Hand Signed TLS Dated 1958. There is some paper loss on the right side not affecting the document. The price has been adjusted to reflect this.

ES-6442E

Elizabeth

Shull Russell (May 1, 1913 –

May 28, 2001), also known as "Tibby" Russell, was

an American biologist in the field of mammalian developmental genetics, spending most of her career at the Jackson Laboratory in

Bar Harbor, Maine. Russell is most recognized for her ground breaking work

in pigmentation,

blood-forming cells, and germ cells. She also

raised awareness of the benefits of genetically-defined laboratory animals in

biomedical research. Russell was born Elizabeth Buckley Shull born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She was the eldest child of Margaret Jeffrey

Buckley and Aaron Franklin Shull Ph.D., both of whom were zoologists, and the

niece of George H. Shull, a

prominent geneticist. Elizabeth was fascinated by science and the

scientific approach from an early age, leading her to study zoology at

the University of Michigan,

from which she graduated in 1933. After receiving a scholarship from Columbia University and

completing her master's degree in 1934, she went to work at the University of Chicago,

obtaining her Ph.D. in zoology in 1937, and marrying fellow student William L.

Russell the same year. The couple moved to work at Jackson Memorial

Laboratory, however, her position was unpaid. Russell began studying tumorogenesis in fruitflies (Drosophila melanogaster).

She had two publications and four children between the years 1940 and 1946

(three boys, Richard, John, and James and a girl, Ellen). The

nickname Tibby came from her husband, because they worked in a

laboratory with several other women named Elizabeth. In 1947 Russell's marriage

ended in divorce, but she maintained a good relationship with her ex-husband.

Later that year the Jackson Memorial Laboratory burnt down, killing the

majority of the research animals. Elizabeth was in charge of obtaining new mice

from laboratories around the world.

Russell went on to genetically characterize many laboratory animals

for phenotypes such as physical attributes and disease

susceptibilities, completing a monumental histological study on the effect that the major coat

color mutations of the mouse have on the physical attributes and distribution

of pigment granules in the hair. This analysis is the first attempt to define

each phenotype of the mouse in terms of genetic factors, setting the stage for

virtually all coat-color studies.