Hilde Mangold (1898-1924) and Spemann's organizer: achievement and tragedy.

Abstract

The organizer effect was the only achievement that the Nobel committee mentioned when awarding the 1935 prize for physiology or medicine to Hans Spemann. The paper by Spemann and Hilde Mangold describing this effect — published in this journal in 19241 — had a great impact for some time but then gradually lost in attraction. However, its citation rate rose again — quite dramatically indeed — when some interactions relevant to “Spemann’s organizer” became amenable to molecular analysis (Fig. 1).