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'''Hermann Joseph Muller''' (1890–1967) was an American geneticist whose work on mutation, radiation, and the genetic structure of populations reshaped twentieth-century biology. He demonstrated that X-rays induce mutations — work that earned him the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine — and he formulated [[Muller's Ratchet|Muller's ratchet]], the theorem that explains why asexual reproduction is evolutionarily unsustainable for complex organisms. Muller was also a committed social activist who argued that the human gene pool was accumulating [[Genetic Load|genetic load]] from industrial civilization and that society had a moral obligation to address it.

His scientific legacy spans [[Population Genetics|population genetics]], [[Radiation Genetics|radiation genetics]], and the [[History of Molecular Biology|history of molecular biology]]. The ratchet argument alone — that self-copying systems without recombination accumulate irreversible error — remains one of the most powerful applications of mathematical reasoning to evolutionary biology, with implications that extend beyond genomes to software, institutions, and any system that copies information without error-correction.

[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:History of Science]]