[Fiftieth anniversary of classical genetics of professor Noe (1943-1993)]

Fifty years ago, the author was a student of Dr Juan Noé's general biology course. Dr Noé, an italian physician and biologist, was the most outstanding european teacher in Chile during the first half of twentieth century (1912-1947) and was the founder of the "Instituto de Biología de la Universidad de Chile". In 1943 Dr Noé taught to the author the classical genetics of that age that included basic concepts of mendelian theory, evolution, comparative anatomy, cytogenetics, eugenics and normal and pathological inheritance. He also undertook controversial problems of those times such as eugenics, racism, humanism and the ambiguity about "inherited defects" associated to syphilis, alcoholism and tuberculosis. The author received a firm education on the history of biological sciences, mendelism, evolution and genetic etiology of classical hereditary diseases such as hemophilia, daltonism, Huntington chorea and muscular dystrophy. Furthermore, Noé made mention of the hereditary etiology of cancer in animals and human leukemias and of the concept of polygenic diseases as a consequence inheritance-environment interactions. The author concludes emphasizing the importance of basic and clinical education in the teaching of medical genetics.