The concept of the gene has evolved over time based on experimental evidence:
1. Early views were that a gene equals one character (Mendel) or metabolic function (Garrod).
2. Experiments in the 1940s-50s showed genes encode enzymes or polypeptides.
3. Benzer's experiments in the 1950s-60s demonstrated that genes have fine structure and recombination can occur within genes, not just between genes. The nucleotide, not the gene, is the basic unit of genetic structure.
4. Complementation tests show a gene is the basic unit of function, though it can be divided into smaller functional units (cistrons). Alternative splicing further complicates the