Victor von Bruns (1812-1883) and his contributions to plastic and reconstructive surgery

Victor von Bruns was an active surgeon in Germany during the nineteenth century. His work is accompanied by many illustrations, and a selected few are presented in this survey. His original contributions to plastic and reconstructive surgery are notable, mainly in lip and cheek reconstruction. These are still valid today and have been adopted by many plastic surgeons. His books dealt not only with plastic surgery, but with almost every surgical event, such as amputation, larynx surgery, galvanosurgery, and war surgery. His publications and illustrations give an excellent picture of the advances made by him and other plastic surgeons during the second half of the nineteenth century, thus making him an important contributor to the renaissance of plastic surgery.     

Vilray P. Blair, his surgical descendants, and their roles in plastic surgical development.

Perhaps one of the most historically well-known plastic surgeons is Vilray P. Blair. As commander of the U.S. Army corps of head and neck surgeons during World War I, he became well known for his work in posttraumatic reconstruction. Blair's efforts in the early part of this century helped to develop plastic surgery as a distinct surgical subspecialty in the United States. His prowess as a surgeon allowed him to build one of the largest plastic surgery centers in the country and to train many of the top young American surgeons. Blair excelled as a teacher. He produced academic surgeons such as James Barrett Brown and Bradford Cannon, who took the lead in the care of wartime injuries during World War II. At Valley Forge General Hospital, Blair's trainees dedicated themselves to the reconstruction of injured patients and trained other young plastic surgeons in the care of postwar trauma. This exceptional level of patient care resulted in the U.S. government recognizing plastic surgery as a subspecialty following World War II. Since that time, Blair's surgical descendants at Washington University have led the country in the development of new training concepts and ideals and have gone on to become leaders in plastic surgery worldwide.     

From intestine transport to enzymatic regulation: The works of the Spanish biochemist Alberto Sols (1917–1989)

In this paper the scientific trajectory of Spanish influential biochemist Alberto Sols (1917–1989) is presented in comparative perspective. His social and academic environment, his research training under the Cori's in the US in the early 1950s and his works when coming back to Spain to develop his own scientific career are described in order to present the central argument of this paper on his path from physiological research to research on enzymatic regulation. Sols' main contributions were both scientific and academic. He and his collaborators not only contributed to biological knowledge on the biochemistry of metabolic regulation but to the active reception of biochemistry in the Spanish academia and to update of Spanish medical education.     

Otto kuntze,botanist. I. Biography,bibliography and travels

Otto Kuntze (1843–1907) is renowned for hisRevisio generum plantarum in which he changed thousands of plant names in accordance with his revision of the 1867 Paris Code of Botanical Nomenclature. His contributions to plant taxonomy, based on his world-wide collecting trips, and his monographs are not as well known. A short biographical sketch and bibliography of Kuntze’s natural history and plant taxonomy publications are included with detailed enumeration of localities and dates for trips around the world in 1874–1876 and 1904, to southern U.S.S.R. in 1886, to the Canary Islands and Madeira in 1887–1888, to South America in 1891–1893 and to southern Africa in 1894. Herbaria housing Kuntze specimens are cited. The majority of the type specimens are at the New York Botanical Garden.     

Ernst Blasius's contributions to plastic surgery

Blasius was a famous teacher and surgeon. Apart from his own writings on surgery and his new methods for reconstructions, such as the replacement of nose, lips, and eyelids, some theses were also inspired by him. His main work is his three-volume Handbuch der Akiurgie, to which he added an excellent atlas, from which a few illustrations are presented here. His books dealt not only with reconstructive problems, but also with almost every surgical event, e.g., amputations, laparotomy, dental extraction, and so on. Blasius's efforts were concerned with overcoming and preventing the worsening of the shape of newly reconstructed noses, lips, and eyelids due to secondarily healed scars, which was the common practice of the great surgeons of his time, such as von Graefe and Dieffenbach. Therefore, his efforts were toward the primary closure of wounds. In rhinoplasty, Blasius extended the forehead flap into three long points, and then extensions were made by infolding them. Furthermore, he mentioned the first use of a nasolabial flap to reconstruct the lower eyelid. Moreover, Blasius laid down basic principles in flap surgery, such as the V-Y plasty and probably the earliest record of the Z-plasty. His publications and illustrations give an excellent picture of the great advances made by him during the first half of the nineteenth century, thus making him an important contributor to the renaissance of plastic surgery.     

Hans Zinsser: a tale of two cultures

Hans Zinsser, president of the Society of American Bacteriologists in 1926, was known as much for his literary and textbook writing as for his scientific contributions. He was a widely known scientist and person of letters. His early interests in poetry and other forms of literature were maintained and developed during his career as a microbiologist, and his most enduring legacy is based on his writing about microbiology for a general readership as well as his reflective and philosophical autobiography.     

Purkyn? cells and Betz cells

J.E. Purkyn? was the first to discover, by achromatic microscopy of stained and fixed as well as of fresh material, that animal tissues in general, and those of the central nervous system in particular, are made up of cells, as are those of plants. His discoveries laid the foundations of modern research on the ultrastructure and biophysies of the cerebellar neurons which bear his name, as well as on other types of neurons, in vitro as well as in vivo.     

A case of membranous lipodystrophy complicated by Fanconi's syndrome

A case of membranous lipodystrophy complicated by Fanconi's syndrome is described. A 40-year old man complaining of pain in his legs was admitted to our hospital. Roentgenograms showed cystic changes in the long bones. Biopsy of the affected lesion of the femur revealed a peculiar membranocystic structure in the marrow that is typical of membranous lipodystrophy. He had a neuropsychiatric disorder which is often associated with this disease. Laboratory studies were remarkable for renal proximal tubular dysfunction., i.e., Fanconi's syndrome. Membranous lipodystrophy is a rare, hereditary disease that has been reported mainly from Japan and Finland. This is the first case of this disease complicated by Fanconi's syndrome. The possible relationship between these disorders is discussed.     

Augustus V. Waller and plastic surgery.

Augustus V. Waller's name is associated eponymously with the regressive changes in transected nerves. This article intends to present the many other aspects of Waller's scientific ventures. Apart from pioneering intravital microscopy, Waller made significant contributions to the understanding of the process of tissue inflammation. In addition to his observations of the degenerative changes in severed nerve fibers, he developed a concept of trophic dependence that is relevant for the management of the regeneration of peripheral nerves in plastic surgery.     

In memoriam: Lauri Saxén (1927-2005)

Dr. Lauri "Tupu" Saxen died last October (2005) at the age of 78. He was a physician, a scientist, a photographer, a naturalist, a great story-teller and a man who enjoyed science enormously. His name has become synonymous with the Finnish school of Developmental Biology, a school that focuses on reciprocal inductive interactions during vertebrate organogenesis. But many biologists probably don't know the full extent of his importance to the field. A few years ago, I had the occasion to outline some of his contributions which are so varied and important that it is difficult to believe that they are the work of one person, and I have included them in this brief eulogy. One could divide his scientific contributions into five categories: (1) the threshold hypothesis of amphibian metamorphosis; (2) the double-gradient hypothesis of primary embryonic induction; (3) the analysis of reciprocal induction during kidney development; (4) the integration of developmental biology with epidemiology and (5) the maintenance of a national infrastructure for science.     

Evolutionary embryology resurrected in Japan with a new molecular basis: Nori Satoh and the history of ascidian studies originating in Kyoto during the 20th century

This article briefly summarizes the scientific contributions of Nori Satoh, the winner of the 2005 edition of the Kowalevsky Medal, to Developmental Biology and especially to Evo-Devo with his 30 years of research on tunicates - a primitive chordate species. His research began with his pure developmental interest in the clock mechanism of cell differentiation and later expanded into various aspects of evolutionary and developmental phenomena. He is not only known as a founder of molecular biology-based tunicate studies, but also for his world-wide service to education and his prestigious publications in international scientific journals.     

Darwin’s contributions to genetics

Darwin’s contributions to evolutionary biology are well known, but his contributions to genetics are much less known. His main contribution was the collection of a tremendous amount of genetic data, and an attempt to provide a theoretical framework for its interpretation. Darwin clearly described almost all genetic phenomena of fundamental importance, such as prepotency (Mendelian inheritance), bud variation (mutation), heterosis, reversion (atavism), graft hybridization (Michurinian inheritance), sex-limited inheritance, the direct action of the male element on the female (xenia and telegony), the effect of use and disuse, the inheritance of acquired characters (Lamarckian inheritance), and many other observations pertaining to variation, heredity and development. To explain all these observations, Darwin formulated a developmental theory of heredity — Pangenesis — which not only greatly influenced many subsequent theories, but also is supported by recent evidence.     

From the "Modern Synthesis" to cybernetics: Ivan Ivanovich Schmalhausen (1884-1963) and his research program for a synthesis of evolutionary and developmental biology

Ivan I. Schmalhausen was one of the central figures in the Russian development of the "Modern Synthesis" in evolutionary biology. He is widely cited internationally even today. Schmalhausen developed the main principles of his theory facing the danger of death in the totalitarian Soviet Union. His great services to evolutionary and theoretical biology are indisputable. However, the received view of Schmalhausen's contributions to evolutionary biology makes an unbiased reading of his texts difficult. Here we show that taking all of his works into consideration (including those only available in Russian) paints a much more dynamic and exciting picture of what he tried to achieve. Schmalhausen pioneered the integration of a developmental perspective into evolutionary thinking. A main tool for achieving this was his approach to living objects as complex multi-level self-regulating systems. Schmalhausen put enormous effort into bringing this idea into fruition during the final stages of his career by combining evolutionary theory with cybernetics. His results and ideas remain thought-provoking, and his texts are of more than just historical interest.     

Lipodystrophy of the extremities. A dominantly inherited syndrome associated with lipatrophic diabetes.

A female patient with the following symptoms has been observed: complete absence of subcutaneous fat on the arms and legs, well developed adipose tissue on the trunk and face, severe hyperlipidemia, eruptive xanthomas, insulin resistant diabetes mellitus with lack of ketoacidosis, hepatomegaly and elevated basal metabolic rate. The patient thus exhibited all characteristics of lipatrophic diabetes (Lawrence type of diabetes). The mother and a sister of the patient were found to have the same peculiar appearance and a slight hyperlipidemia but no diabetes mellitus. The combination of this type of partial lipodystrophy with severe hyperlipidemia, insulin resistant diabetes mellitus without ketoacidosis and elevated basal metabolic rate was further observed in 2 unrelated patients without known familial occurrence. Thus partial lipodystrophy of the extremities is another, previously undescribed, syndrome associated with the Lawrence type of diabetes mellitus. In the 1 family the syndrome of lipodystrophy and hyperlipidemia is dominantly inherited. Besides the autosomal recessively inherited syndrome of congenital generalized lipodystrophy there is a heterogenous group of dominantly inherited syndromes with various types of lipodystrophy.     

The bacteriophage, its role in immunology: how Macfarlane Burnet's phage research shaped his scientific style

The Australian scientist Frank Macfarlane Burnet-winner of the Nobel Prize in 1960 for his contributions to the understanding of immunological tolerance-is perhaps best recognized as one of the formulators of the clonal selection theory of antibody production, widely regarded as the 'central dogma' of modern immunology. His work in studies in animal virology, particularly the influenza virus, and rickettsial diseases is also well known. Somewhat less known and publicized is Burnet's research on bacteriophages, which he conducted in the first decade of his research career, immediately after completing medical school. For his part, Burnet made valuable contributions to the understanding of the nature of bacteriophages, a matter of considerable debate at the time he began his work. Reciprocally, it was while working on the phages that Burnet developed the scientific styles, the habits of mind and laboratory techniques and practices that characterized him for the rest of his career. Using evidence from Burnet's published work, as well as personal papers from the period he worked on the phages, this paper demonstrates the direct impact that his experiments with phages had on the development of his characteristic scientific style and approaches, which manifested themselves in his later career and theories, and especially in his thinking regarding various immunological problems.     

Philip Cohen

Philip Cohen trained at University College London and, after postdoctoral research at the University of Washington, joined the University of Dundee Scotland, in 1971, where he has worked ever since. He is a Royal Society Research Professor and Director of the Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit. His main contributions have been in the area of protein phosphorylation and its role in cell regulation and human disease. In 1998, he was knighted for his contributions to biochemistry and the development of Life Sciences at Dundee.     

How serendipity shaped a life; an interview with John W. Saunders,Jr. by John F. Fallon

John W. Saunders Jr. is an outstanding contributor to the field of Developmental Biology. His analyses of the apical ectodermal ridge, discovery and study of the zone of polarizing activity, insights into cell death in development, and analytical studies of feather patterns are part of a legacy to developmental biology. The body of his published work remains central to the understanding of limb development and is a major reason for the premiere place that the developmental biology of limbs holds in our research and teaching today. Beyond these things known to nearly everyone, there is John's role as teacher that is equally impressive. His one-on-one style, in small groups or from the podium is engaging, encompassing, and above all else, enthusiastic about the study of the development of living things. His love of developmental biology comes through to students of all ages and is inspirational. And, of course, inimitable charm accompanies the substance of any interaction with John. He still teaches in the Embryology Course at MBL Woods Hole. Recent students say that hearing his lectures and his involvement in the laboratory are highlights of the course. His continued knowledge of science and delight in new advances is a model for students to follow and they recognize it. John Saunders is a scientist and educator par excellence. His contributions have stood the test of time. His personal interactions with colleagues and students have enriched their lives in innumerable ways, large and small. His is a lifetime of outstanding achievements. In this interview, he reflects on his six--going on seven--decades in science and his personal enjoyment of recent advances in Developmental Biology.