Hans Spemann

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Hans Spemann
Freiburg, Germany
NationalityGerman
Known forEmbryonic induction and the Organiser
AwardsNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1935)
Scientific career
FieldsEmbryology
Doctoral advisorTheodor Boveri

Hans Spemann (German pronunciation:

embryonic induction, an influence, exercised by various parts of the embryo, that directs the development of groups of cells into particular tissues and organs, one of the first steps towards cloning.[1]
Spemann added his name as an author to Hilde Mangold's dissertation (although she objected) and won a Nobel Prize for her work.

Biography

Hans Spemann was born in

newts
and shown that, if the lens of a developing newt's eye is removed, it regenerates.

In 1892 Spemann married Klara Binder with whom he had a daughter (Margaret) and three sons (Fritz, Rudolph, Ulrich). In 1893–1894 he moved to the

University of Munich for clinical training but decided, rather than becoming a clinician, to move to the Zoological Institute at the University of Würzburg, where he remained as a lecturer until 1908. His degree in zoology, botany, and physics, awarded in 1895, followed study under Theodor Boveri, Julius von Sachs and Wilhelm Röntgen.[2]

For his Ph.D. thesis under Boveri, Spemann studied cell lineage in the parasitic worm Strongylus paradoxus, for his teaching diploma, the development of the middle ear in the frog.[3] Spemann advocated a holistic approach to biology.[4]

Experiments in ontogeny

During the winter of 1896, while quarantined in a sanitarium recovering from tuberculosis, Spemann read August Weismann's book The Germ Plasm: A Theory of Heredity.[5] He wrote in his autobiography: "I found here a theory of heredity and development elaborated with uncommon perspicacity to its ultimate consequences.....This stimulated experimental work of my own".[6]

Results in embryology had been contradictory: in 1888

preformation, but satisfactory results could not be achieved.[3]

As a master of micro-surgical technique, beginning with his continuing work on the amphibian eye, Spemann's papers in the early years of the 20th century on this vexed question were to be a great contribution to the development of experimental morphogenesis, causing him to be hailed in some quarters as the true founder of micro-surgery. He succeeded in dividing the cells with a noose of baby hair. Spemann found that one half could indeed form a whole embryo, but observed that the plane of division was crucial.[3] This dispatched the theory of preformation and gave some support to the concept of a morphogenetic field, a concept of which Spemann learned from Paul Alfred Weiss.

Induction and organizers

Spemann was appointed Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at

Primitive knot
) from one embryo onto another.

The experiments, performed by

organiser centres
" or "organisers". Later he showed that different parts of the organiser centre produce different parts of the embryo.

Despite his modern reputation, Spemann continued to entertain neo-

Conrad Waddington
and others showed that organizers killed by boiling, fixing or freezing were also capable of causing induction. The conclusion was that the actual controllers were inert molecules, though little headway was made until the end of the 20th century in discovering how signalling took place.

From 1919 Spemann was Professor of Zoology at the

University of Freiburg-im-Breisgau, where he continued his line of enquiry until in 1937 he was relieved of his post to be replaced by one of his first students, Otto Mangold. He was elected an International Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1925.[9] In 1928 he was the first to perform somatic cell nuclear transfer using amphibian embryos – one of the first moves towards cloning.[2] He was elected an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1933.[10] He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1935. He was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1937.[11]
His theory of embryonic induction by organisers is described in his book Embryonic Development and Induction (1938). He died of heart failure on 12 September 1941. He never lost his love of classical literature and, throughout his life, organized evening gatherings of friends to discuss art, literature, and philosophy.

Support of Nazism

The commemoration of the 1923 death of Albert Leo Schlageter in Freiburg attracted particular attention. Hans Spemann suspended classes on June 6 and, with the deans in full regalia, went in a joint funeral procession with representatives of the student body and corporations to the train station, where they met with delegations of officers from Schlageter's former regiment and the German Officers' Association and students from Schlageter's former high school. Upon the train's arrival, Spemann laid two wreaths, which were stowed in the semi-open baggage car decorated with flowers and emblazoned with swastikas. To the sounds of “I had a comrade”, the crowd swore Schlageter's motto "Heil, Sieg und Rache".[12][13]

In 1935, at the end of Spemann's acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, he gave a Nazi salute.[14]

See also

References

  1. PMID 16482093.. See Box 1: Explanation of the Spemann-Mangold experiment
  2. ^ a b Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1922–1941, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1965
  3. ^ a b c d Monograph by Claudio Stern, J. Z. Young Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at University College London, based on Spemann, 1943; Mangold, 1953; Hamburger, 1988. bioinfo.org.cn Archived 2020-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Hamburger, Viktor. (1999). Hans Spemann on Vitalism in Biology: Translation of a Portion of Spemann's "Autobiography". Journal of the History of Biology 32 (2): 231-243.
  5. ^ Scientist Profile : Hans Spemann Archived 2000-06-01 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ISBN 0-19-505110-6
    .
  7. ^ Ethel Browne Harvey Archived 2011-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
  8. S2CID 12605303
    .
  9. ^ "Hans Spemann". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  10. ^ "Hans Spemann". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 2023-02-10. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  11. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  12. ^ Ute Scherb: „Dem Freiburger Studenten Alb. Leo Schlageter aus Schönau im Schwarzwald“. Heldenverehrung an der Universität Freiburg. In: Freiburger Universitätsblätter.38, No. 145 1999, pgs. 145–148.
  13. ^ "GERMANY: Schlageter Day". Time. June 5, 1933 – via content.time.com.
  14. ^ Emling, Shelley. Marie Curie and Her Daughters: The Private Lives of Science's First Family. Pg 146. United Kingdom, St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2012.

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