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developmental and stem cell biologists

Forgotten classics

Forgotten classics

Developmental biology has a long and rich history which has generated a vast and often daunting literature. In this series, we asked prominent researchers to recommend their favourite hidden gems from history – papers that are, for whatever reason, unjustly overlooked today.

Recent posts

Back-to-school: The classics

Posted by , on 30 August 2022

Are you just starting out in your career as a developmental biologist (or feeling nostalgic for those times)? The vast amount of literature can feel a bit daunting when you …
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Forgotten classics: Making a monotreme

Posted by , on 17 October 2017

T. Thomson Flynn and J.P. Hill. 1939. The Development of the Monotrema – Part IV. Growth of the Ovarian Ovum, Maturation, Fertilisation and Early Cleavage. Transactions of the Zoological Society …

Forgotten classics: Cut and paste embryology

Posted by , on 2 February 2017

Hörstadius, S. 1939. The mechanics of sea urchin development, studied by operative methods. Biological Reviews 14(2):132-179. Recommended by Bob Goldstein, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill   Sven Hörstadius …

Forgotten classics: Rosa Beddington’s chimeras

Posted by , on 11 November 2016

R. S. P. Beddington (1981). An autoradiographic analysis of the potency of embryonic ectoderm in the 8th day postimplantation mouse embryo. Journal of Experimental Embryology and Morphology. 64: 87-10. Open Access R. …

Forgotten classics: Tracing the heart

Posted by , on 17 August 2016

de la Cruz, M.V., Sánchez-Gómez, C. & Palomino, M.A. (1989) The primitive cardiac regions in the straight tube heart (Stage 9–) and their anatomical expression in the mature heart: an …

Forgotten classics- Genetic mosaics in Drosophila

Posted by , on 11 May 2016

Bryant, P.J., Schneiderman, H. A. (1969). Cell lineage, growth, and determination in the imaginal leg discs of Drosophila melanogaster. Developmental Biology 20, 263–290   Recommended by Peter Lawrence (University of …

A mouse embryo schematic from Rosa Beddington, as featured in the forgotten classic recommended by Patrick Tam.

Do you have a forgotten classic you’d like to share with the community? We’d love to hear from you

Updated on 14 October 2021