Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
concept of the neuromotor apparatus and early thoughts on hormone signaling pass
through the centrosome complex (Rees
1922
; Kater
1929
; Tucker et al.
1983
;
Salisbury
1988
; Pardee
1989
; Christensen et al.
2008
). I feel fortunate to have
experienced this recent period of astounding discovery and to have come to know
personally many of the investigators who have made the latest advances possible.
As is true for all progress in modern scientific achievement, the path to the
breathtaking breakthroughs of today rests squarely on the shoulders of the Giants
who came before us into the field (Newton 1676). Appreciation of the early
pioneers, however, all too easily becomes hidden with a receding grasp on the past
literature. How earlier studies developed and were formulated into the foundation
of current knowledge, and how the personalities of leading workers effected this
process is too often left untold in the contemporary classroom. It is therefore
appropriate that we take a moment to consider our deeper history. Among many
Giants in Cell Biology, a handful of investigators stand out for their exceptional
contributions to the understanding of centrosome, and perhaps one, Theodor
Boveri, exemplifies the species. Because there are several recent accounts of
Boveri's specific contributions to the field, I will not repeat them here; rather I
wish to comment more generally on his method of discovery (Metcalf
1925
;
Baltzer
1967
; Manchester
1995
; Brinkley and Goepfert
1998
; Balmain
2001
).
Boveri was recognized as an 'extraordinary master of experimental design and
objective scientific reasoning' by his peers; see E.B. Wilson's dedication to
Boveri's memory in his tome on The Cell in Development and Heredity (Wilson
1925
). Boveri's investigations into the nature of cytoplasmic organization and the
role of chromosomes as the carriers of heredity exemplify his achievement.
Anyone who delves into his scientific work will discover that Boveri was not only
the discoverer of fundamental facts, but also that his comprehensive insight into
development and the structural basis for genetic continuity and its interruption in
cancer, anticipated the very forefront of these fields today. Boveri's insight into the
role of chromosomes as the carriers of the genetic traits and the concept of indi-
viduality of chromosomes was gained simply from direct observation of the
behavior of chromosomes during division, and importantly through the study of
abnormal divisions and their consequences in development. Boveri coined the
terms centriole and centrosome during his work on the dividing Ascaris egg when
he and his contemporary E. van Beneden observed that the astral arrays contain
rounded granules that divided when new asters were formed (Boveri
1887
,
1888
;
Van Beneden and Neyt
1887
). Boveri and van Beneden both recognized that the
centrosome was endowed with an 'autonomous' behavior that included the
property of 'self-replication' as seen for chromosomes. Today, we understand
these features in terms of centrosome doubling and centriole duplication for which
the molecular details underlying their mechanistic basis for centriole biogenesis
are rapidly becoming elucidated (Kleylein-Sohn et al.
2007
; Rodrigues-Martins
et al.
2007
; Kuriyama
2009
; van Breugel et al.
2011
). However, what distinguishes
Boveri's conduct of science from that of the present day is a process of discovery
that unfortunately has been diminished by the confines of the Impact Factor, the
Priority Score, and the Dean's 'metrics of achievement'.
