Thieffry D
Universiteit van Gent & Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
J Hist Biol. 2001;34(1):149-81. doi: 10.1023/a:1010389907221.
The present account aims to contribute to a better characterization of the state and the dynamics of embryological knowledge at the dawn of the molecular revolution in biology. In this study, Albert Dalcq (1893-1973) was chosen as a representative of a generation of embryologists who found themselves at the junction of two very different approaches to the study of life: the first, focusing on global properties of organisms; the first, focusing on the characterization of basic molecular constituents. Though clearly belonging to the organismic tradition, Dalcq was already blending his experimental and explanatory practices with biochemical aspects by the 1930s. Principally based on published sources, the present analysis focuses on the conceptual definitions, modifications and interrelations on which Dalcq's explanation of development rested. Among these are variant process concepts such as gradients and fields, which are often thought to have strongly holistic implications. I will argue that Dalcq's version of these concepts was compatible with a more reductionist treatment of embryos than was accepted by most embryologists as late as the 1950s, pointing to some extent toward the recent molecular characterization of gradients by molecular geneticists such as Christiane Nüsslien-Volhard. Moreover, I will show the embryological research program of Dalcq and his pupil Jean Brachet has been largely instrumental in the development of molecular biology in Belgium.
本报告旨在更深入地刻画生物学分子革命初期胚胎学知识的状态和动态。在这项研究中，阿尔贝·达尔克（1893 - 1973）被选为一代胚胎学家的代表，他们处于两种截然不同的生命研究方法的交汇点：第一种方法侧重于生物体的整体特性；第二种方法侧重于基本分子成分的表征。尽管达尔克显然属于有机论传统，但到20世纪30年代，他已经将自己的实验和解释实践与生物化学方面结合起来。本分析主要基于已发表的资料，重点关注达尔克对发育的解释所依据的概念定义、修改和相互关系。其中包括梯度和场等变体过程概念，这些概念通常被认为具有强烈的整体论含义。我将论证，与20世纪50年代大多数胚胎学家所接受的观点相比，达尔克对这些概念的理解更符合对胚胎进行更简化处理的方式，在某种程度上指向了像克里斯蒂安妮·尼斯莱因 - 福尔哈德这样的分子遗传学家近期对梯度的分子表征。此外，我将表明，达尔克及其学生让·布拉谢的胚胎学研究计划在比利时分子生物学的发展中发挥了重要作用。
