During the late 1880s and early 1890s, Wilson turned his attention primarily to cell lineage studies of early-stage embryos. The purpose of this work was to follow each individual cell in the embryo from the very first division of the fertilized egg onwards in hopes that doing so might shed light on the specification of cell and tissue fates. This approach to studying embryology both demonstrated and reinforced the idea that individual cells and their division play an important role in early development.
The culmination of Wilson’s cell lineage work, particularly his studies of the polychaete worm Nereis limbata at the MBL, was his 1892 publication The Cell-Lineage of Nereis: a Contribution to the Cytogeny of the Annelid Body. This comprehensive, one hundred page paper was accompanied by eight lithographic plates depicting ninety-two carefully illustrated figures. Given that this work required extremely close observation of individual cell movements, Wilson relied heavily on drawings and sketches both to carry out and effectively present his work.
Early Life and Education
- Allen, Garland E. “Wilson, Edmund Beecher.” Dictionary of Scientific Biography 14: 423–6.
- Maienschein, Jane, "Edmund Beecher Wilson (1856-1939)". Embryo Project Encyclopedia (2013-08-05). ISSN: 1940-5030 http://embryo.asu.edu/handle/10776/6044. embryo.asu.edu/pages/edmund-beecher-wilson-1856-1939.
- Morgan, Thomas Hunt. 1941. “Biographical Memoir of Edmund Beecher Wilson, 1856–1939,” National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs 21: 315–42.
The Johns Hopkins University
- Moore, John A. 1987. "Edmund Beecher Wilson, Class of '81". American Zoologist 27(3): 785-796.
The Stazione Zoologica in Naples and Music
- Groeben, Christiane. 1985. "Anton Dohrn--The Statesman of Darwinism: To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the death of Anton Dohrn". Biological Bulletin 168: 4-25. www.biolbull.org/content/168/3S/4.full.pdf+html.
- Maienschein, Jane. 1985. "First impressions: American biologists at Naples". Biological Bulletin 168: 187-191. www.biolbull.org/content/168/3S/187.full.pdf+html.
Cell Lineage
- Fischer, Antje HL et al. (2012). “The normal development of Platynereis dumerilii (Nereididae, Annelida).” Frontiers in Zoology 7(31): 1-39.
- Gilbert, Scott. (2014). Developmental Biology, 10th edition. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates Inc Publishers.
- MacCord, Kate, "Germ Layers". Embryo Project Encyclopedia (2013-09-17). ISSN: 1940-5030 http://embryo.asu.edu/handle/10776/6273.
- Maienschein, Jane. (1991). Transforming Traditions in American Biology, 1880-1915. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Pearse, Vicki, John Pearse, Mildred Buchsbaum & Ralph Buchsbaum. (1987). Living Invertebrates. Pacific Grove, CA: The Boxwood Press.
- Seaver, Elaine C. (2014). “Variation in spiralian development: insights from polychaetes.” Int. J. Dev. Biol 58: 457-467.
- Sedgwick, William T. & Edmund B. Wilson. (1895). An Introduction to General Biology. New York: H. Holt.
- Wilson, Edmund B. (1892). “The Cell-Lineage of Nereis: A Contribution to the Cytogeny of the Annelid Body.” Journal of Morphology 6(3): 361-481.
