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Approaches and Species in the History of Vertebrate Embryology

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Vertebrate Embryogenesis

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 770))

Abstract

Recent debates about model organisms echo far into the past; taking a longer view adds perspective to present concerns. The major approaches in the history of research on vertebrate embryos have tended to exploit different species, though there are long-term continuities too. Early nineteenth-century embryologists worked on surrogates for humans and began to explore the range of vertebrate embryogenesis; late nineteenth-century Darwinists hunted exotic ontogenies; around 1900 experimentalists favored living embryos in which they could easily intervene; reproductive scientists tackled farm animals and human beings; after World War II developmental biologists increasingly engineered species for laboratory life; and proponents of evo-devo have recently challenged the resulting dominance of a few models. Decisions about species have depended on research questions, biological properties, supply lines, and, not least, on methods. Nor are species simply chosen; embryology has transformed them even as they have profoundly shaped the science.

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Acknowledgments

For comments on a draft I thank Scott Gilbert, Martin Johnson, and Francisco Pelegri. Research was supported by the Wellcome Trust [074298].

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  1. Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Nick Hopwood

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Correspondence to Nick Hopwood .

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  1. Dept. Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Henry Mall 425-G, Madison, 53706-1574, Wisconsin, USA

    Francisco J. Pelegri

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Hopwood, N. (2011). Approaches and Species in the History of Vertebrate Embryology. In: Pelegri, F. (eds) Vertebrate Embryogenesis. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 770. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-210-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-210-6_1

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