Camille France Chua 4B1

Marie Patrice Leh

Scientist Contribution to Embryology

1. Hippocrates ● According to Joseph Needham (1959),

Hippocrates is the first to write
embryological research related to
obstetrics and gynecology.
● Hippocrates supported the human fetus
gained nourishment by sucking blood
from the placenta.

2. Martin Heinrich Rathke ● He is well known for identifying the

“Rathke’s pouch.” The Rathke’s
pouch, also known as the hypophyseal
diverticulum, is an ectodermal
outpouching of the strodeum. In the
later development, it completely
separates from the oral cavity and is
near its final position as the
adenohypophysis.

3. Leonardo da Vinci ● Leonardo de Vinci made a very

famous drawing about a human fetus
lying inside a dissected uterus.
● He is known for his dissection of the
human fetus, and he was the first to
correctly depict the fetus in the proper
position of the womb.
● He was the first to give evidence that
 embryos may be measured
chronologically and that this can
change the weight, size, and shape
over time.

4. Oskar Hedwig ● He was the first to identify the fusion

of the nuclei of the sperm and ovum,
which is essential for fertilization.

5. Wilhelm Roux ● He was known for pioneering

Entwickelungsmechanik, or
developmental mechanics.
● He was also known for his observation
of the frog’s 2 and 4 cell stages of
development. He killed one of the
frog’s blastomeres by using a heated
needle and observing the development
of the blastomere. He concluded that
the blastomeres at the earliest stages of
development already have a
predetermined fate.

6. Hans Spemann ● He received the 1935 Nobel Prize for

medicine and physiology for his
discovery of the embryonic induction.
The embryo induction is in which
various parts of the embryo directs the
development of group cells into
particular tissues and organs.
 7. Rudolf Albert von Kölliker ● He was one of the first to interpret the
tissue structure in terms of the cellular
elements.
● He investigated the development of
the cephalopods.
● He also demonstrated that the
spermatozoa is a cellular in origin.
● His book Entwicklungsgeschichte des
Menschen und der höheren Tiere
(“Embryology of Man and Higher
Animals”) has been an important book
in embryology.

8. Hermann Boerhaave ● He wrote the first detailed account of

chemical embryology in his book
Elementa Chemiae.

9. John Hunter ● He showed that the maternal and fetal

circulations have different
physiologies.

10. Franklin P. Mall ● He constructed a model of an early

human embryo using the technique
wax-plate method.

References:
Chun, I. K. H., Ojumah, N., Loukas, M., Oskouian, R. J., & Tubbs, R. S. (2018). Martin
Heinrich Rathke (1793–1860) and his pouch and cyst. Child's Nervous System ,
34(1), 377–379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-017-3482-2
Gilson, H. (2008, August 19). Leonardo da Vinci’s Embryological Drawings of the
Fetus. The Embryo Project Encyclopedia. https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/leonardo-
da-vincis-embryological-drawings-fetus#:~:text=Leonardo%20is%20considered
%20to%20be,of%20the%20cervix%20and%20vagina
Kearl, M. (2009, July 22). Wilhelm Roux (1850-1924). The Embryo Project
Encyclopedia. https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/wilhelm-roux-1850-1924
Buettner, K. A. (2007, November 01). Franklin Paine Mall (1862-1917). The Embryo
Project Encyclopedia. https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/franklin-paine-mall-1862-
1917
Oskar Hertwig. (n.d.). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oskar-
Wilhelm-August-Hertwig
Rudolf Albert von Kölliker. (2020). Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rudolf-Albert-von-Kolliker
Shampo, M.A. & Kyle, R.A. (1999). Hans Spemann- Contributions to embryology.
Elsevier, 74 (5), 724. https://doi.org/10.4065/74.5.474
Wellner, K. (2010, June 28). A history of embryology (1959), by Joseph Needham. The
Embryo Project Encyclopedia. https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/history-embryology-
1959-joseph-needham