Int. J. Dev. Biol. 42: 471 - 473 (1998)

Vol 42, Issue 3

Special Issue: Developmental Genetics of Drosophila

Sir Vincent Wigglesworth and the coming of age of insect development

Published: 1 April 1998

J S Edwards

Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA. hardsnow@u.washington.edu

Abstract

Sir Vincent Wigglesworth (1899-1994), a founder of the discipline of Insect Physiology, was a central figure in the emergence of the concept of postembryonic insect development as sequential polymorphism regulated by endocrine signals. At a time in mid-century when genetics and developmental physiology were severely compartmentalized, he made the conceptual linkage with the recognition that sequential polymorphism must have a genetic basis with gene activation regulated by internal signals.