From cell lineage to developmental genetics

Charles Galperin (1)

1 IHPST - Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques

One of the bases of developmental genetics resides in the alliance of clonal analysis and genetic analysis. But the study of cell lineage--cells which have their genealogical relationship--and the study of the cellular labelled progeny, have their own history. We have tried to follow it since its foundation with C.O. Whitman (1878) and E.B. Wilson (1892). A.H. Sturtevant (1929) and C. Stern (1936) the first tools to study the 'cell lineage' in Drosophila. We stress the contribution of the pioneer work realised around 1940. In the following period we witness the emergence of developmental genetics in Drosophila mainly with E. Hadorn (1949-1966), C. Stern (1954-1968) and E.B. Lewis (1963-1964). We conclude with A. Garcia-Bellido's view of compartments: supra-cellular units of development (1973). A postscript presents the most recent publications and some critical focuses.

Mots clés: cell lineage; genealogical relationship; developmental genetics

Domaines: Histoire, Philosophie et Sociologie des sciences

Charles Galperin. From cell lineage to developmental genetics. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 1998, 20 (3), pp.301-344. ⟨halshs-00792476⟩