Viktor Hamburger Research Articles

A Pact with the Embryo: Viktor Hamburger, Holistic and Mechanistic Philosophy in the Development of Neuroembryology, 1927?1955

Viktor Hamburger was a developmental biologist interested in the ontogenesis of hte vertebrate nervous system. A student of Hans Spemann at Freiburg in the 1920s, Hamburger picked up a holistic view of the embryo that precluded him from treating it in a reductionist way; at the same time, he was committed to a materialist and analytical approach that eschewed any form of vitalism or metaphysics. This paper explores how Hamburger walked this thin line between mechanistic reductionism and metaphysical vitalism in light of his work on the factors influencing growth of neurons into limb buds, and the discovery of nerve growth factor, work carried out with Rita Levi-Montalcini and Stanley Cohen.

Viktor Hamburger: a prepared, persistent, and deserving mind favored by many "fortuities".

Viktor Hamburger: a prepared, persistent, and deserving mind favored by many "fortuities".

Viktor Hamburger (1900–2001): Journey of a Neuroembryologist to the End of the Millennium and Beyond

But will there be anyone to remember us in another thousand years? Surely it's not possible that not a single molecule of memory will be found for us, like a yellowing manuscript at the bottom of a forgotten drawer, whose very cataloguing guarantees its eternity even if not a single reader ever discovers it. But will the catalog itself survive? —A.B. Yehoshua, 1998

The Zoology Department at Washington University (1944–1954): from undergraduate to graduate studies with Viktor Hamburger

Beginning from an undergraduate's perspective and continuing through graduate school, this student's experiences in the Department of Zoology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri was a time of many rewarding experiences. Now, on this occasion of his 100th birthday, I wish to express my appreciation to the Chairman, Dr. Viktor Hamburger, for his teachings, his encouragement, and his friendship that has lasted over the past 56 years.

Spontaneous embryonic motility: an enduring legacy

This chapter addresses the influential contributions Viktor Hamburger has made to our understanding of embryonic motor behavior. With his classic review, published in 1963, Viktor Hamburger opened up the field of embryonic motor behavior, which had lain almost completely dormant for many years. He focused his observations and experimental studies on the spontaneously generated embryonic movements rather than on reflex responses. As a result, he and his colleagues firmly established the central generation of embryonic motility as a basic component of embryonic behavior in chicks. These studies were also extended to rat fetuses, showing that similar principles apply to mammalian fetuses. All of us who have followed after him owe Viktor Hamburger an enormous debt of gratitude for his pioneering work.

In the trenches with Viktor Hamburger and Rita Levi-Montalcini (1965–1974): One student's perspective

In the trenches with Viktor Hamburger and Rita Levi-Montalcini (1965–1974): One student's perspective

Viktor Hamburger's Department of Zoology in the 1940s: a student perspective

Eleanor and Byron Wenger were graduate students in the Department of Zoology in the 1940s. Both took several courses with Viktor, and he was thesis advisor for both of us. We have attempted to provide a summary of life in the department from a student perspective as well as our impression of Viktor's style of mentoring and guiding student research and education.

A new era in science at Washington University, St. Louis: Viktor Hamburger's zoology department in the 1940's

In the early 1940s, the administration of the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington University, St. Louis was firmly in the hands of classical scholars who were not inclined to promote the development of modern research on scientific subjects. Funds supporting research in biology favored the School of Medicine and the Missouri Botanical Garden. Viktor Hamburger arrived at Washington University in 1935. At about the time he became the Acting Chairman of Zoology in 1942, research work in the biological departments began a dramatic surge that has continued to this day. For 65 years under his counsel and leadership, basic biology has thrived at this fine institution. As an early faculty recruit, I recount here a few personal recollections from those formative years.

Cryptic responses to tissue manipulations in avian embryos

Experimental embryology performed on avian embryos combines tissue manipulations and cell-labeling methods with increasing opportunities and demands for critical assays of the results. These approaches continue to reveal unexpected complexities in the normal patterns of cell movement and tissue origins, documentation of which is critical to unraveling the intricacies of cell and tissue interactions during embryogenesis. Viktor Hamburger's many pioneering contributions helped launch and promote the philosophical as well as technical elements of avian experimental embryology. Furthermore, his scholarship and profoundly positive presence influenced not just those of us fortunate to have trained with him, but several generations of developmental biologists. The first part of this article presents examples of the opportunities and rewards that have occurred due to his influences. Surgical manipulation of avian embryonic tissues always introduces a greater number of variables than the experimenter can control for or, often, readily identify. We present the results of dorsal and ventral lesions of hindbrain segments, which include defects in structures within, beside, and also at a considerable distance from the site of lesion. Extramedullary loops of longitudinal tract axons exit and re-enter the neural tube, and intra-medullary proliferation of blood vessels is expanded. Peripherally, the coalescence of neural crest- and placode-derived neuroblasts is disrupted. As expected, motor neurons and their projections close to the sites of lesion are compromised. However, an unexpected finding is that the normal projections of cranial nerves located distant to the lesion site were also disrupted. Following brainstem lesions in the region of rhombomeres 3, 4 or 5, trigeminal or oculomotor axons penetrated the lateral rectus muscle. Surprisingly, the ability of VIth nerve axons to reach the lateral rectus muscle was not destroyed in most cases, even though the terrain through which they needed to pass was disrupted. These axons typically followed a more ventral course than normal, and usually, the axons emerging from individual roots failed to fasciculate into a common VIth nerve, which suggests that each rootlet contains pathfinder-competent axons. The lesson from these lesions is that surgical intervention in avian embryos may have substantial effects upon tissues within, adjacent to, and distant to those that are being manipulated.

The acquisition of motoneuron subtype identity and motor circuit formation

Experiments in chick embryos using classical transplantation techniques introduced by Viktor Hamburger are reviewed; these demonstrated that chick-limb innervating motoneurons become specified by extrinsic signals prior to axon outgrowth and that they selectively grow to appropriate muscles by actively responding to guidance cues within the limb. More recent experiments reveal that fast/slow and flexor/extensor subclasses of motoneurons are distinct by E4–5 and that they exhibit patterned spontaneous activity while still growing to their targets. These observations are then related to the combinatorial code of LIM transcription factor expression, which has been hypothesized to specify motoneuron subtypes.

Growing up with Chuck and Dick and Viktor Hamburger

Growing up with Chuck and Dick and Viktor Hamburger

Viktor Hamburger and Rita Levi-Montalcini: the path to the discovery of nerve growth factor.

The announcement in October 1986 that the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine was to be awarded to Rita Levi-Montalcini and Stanley Cohen for the discoveries of NGF and EGF, respectively, caused many to wonder why Viktor Hamburger (in whose laboratory the initial work was done) had not been included in the award. Now that the dust has settled, the time seems opportune to reconsider the antecedent studies on the relation of the developing nervous system to the peripheral structures it innervates. The studies undertaken primarily to investigate this issue culminated in the late 1950s in the discovery that certain tissues produce a nerve growth-promoting factor that is essential for the survival and maintenance of spinal (sensory) ganglion cells and sympathetic neurons. In this review, the many contributions that Viktor and Rita made to this problem, both independently and jointly, are reexamined by considering chronologically each of the relevant research publications together with some of the retrospective memoirs they have published in the years since the discovery of NGF was first reported.

Viktor Hamburger: the discoverer of chick embryo's neural secrets

Viktor Hamburger is one of the few distinguished scientists to have lived through the entire 20th century. He was born on July 9, 1900 in Landeshut Silesia, Germany (now Poland). Hamburger's lifelong scientific work grew out of his deep and long-lasting love of nature, art and philosophy, nurtured by his parents and his university years. Biomedical Reviews 2000; 11: vii-viii.

Viktor Hamburger. A lifelong fascination with the chick embryo.

Since the early days of developmental biology, Viktor Hamburger has inspired fellow scientists. Working with the simplest of tools--small glass needles, a basic microscope, a camera--he has asked, and helped to answer, some of biology's biggest questions. And at age 100, he isn't done yet.

De l'embryologie expérimentale à la géné­tique du développement : De Hans Spemann à Antonio Garcia-Bellido / From experimental embryology to developmental genetics : From Hans Spemann to Antonio Garcia-Bellido

SUMMARY. — We seek to study a shift from experimental embryology to developmental genetics. This historical inquiry takes us from embryonic induction to the compartment hypothesis, i. e. from Hans Spemann to Antonio Garcia-Bellido, whose conceptual itinerary serves as our guide. We dwell with Spemann on the concept of « assimilative induction », i. e. « determinative effects progress from cell to cell ». With Viktor Hamburger, we mention the complexity of the concept of organizer and the importance of xenoplastic transplantations. We tackle with Johannes Holtfreter the culture of cells and their affinities. The concept of morphogenetic fields is studied, particularly its relationship with cellular behaviour in the research of Paul Weiss. Curt Stern attempted to throw light on genetic analysis in terms of embryology. Cells respond to a « prepattern » in accordance with their genome. Ernst Hadorn's and Walter Gehring's experiments respectively drew attention to transdetermination and clonal analysis. By pursuing the study of cellular clones in homoeotic transformations, Garcia-Bellido grounded the compartment hypothesis : units of the genetic control of development, taking as a model the Drosophilia and its wing.

Hans Spemann on vitalism in biology: translation of a portion of Spemann's autobiography.

The following comes to us from Viktor Hamburger (b. 1900), Edward Malinckrodt Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at Washington University (St. Louis), and former student of embryologist Hans Speman (1869-1941). It consists of a translation of a section of about ten pages from Spemann's posthumously-published autobiography, long out of print and largely unavailable to non-German-reading scholars. It deals with Spemann's recollections of his initiation into holistic, non-mechanistic, or "psychic" (as it was often referred to) aspects of biology in Germany in the late nineteenth century. Easily dismissed by more mainstream, mechanistic biologists at the time as wooly-minded and mystical, holism nevertheless represented an attempt to understand organisms as complex, interacting and self-regulating systems rather than as the simplistic machines to which they were so often compared. While much of this holistic approach to biology spilled over into vitalism and other metaphysical notions about the special nature of living systems, the attempt to frame questions about life in non-mechanistic terms represents a long-standing and influential tradition in biology. Hans Spemann was one of those who accepted a holistic way of understanding living systems embryonic systems in particular without crossing the line into speculation or mysticism. For Spemann was above all else an empiricist, and the only useful ideas were those that could be confirmed by observations or, if possible, experiments. Indeed, many of his own experiments were highly delicate embryonic transplants for which he designed

Insulin-like growth factor-II increases and IGF is required for postnatal rat spinal motoneuron survival following sciatic nerve axotomy.

The prolonged disconnection of nerve from muscle results in the death of motoneurons and permanent paralysis. Because clinical nerve injuries generally involve postbirth motoneurons, there is interest in uncovering factors that may support their survival. A rich history of research dating back to the time of Santiago Ramon y Cajal and Viktor Hamburger supports the inference that there are soluble neurotrophic factors associated with nerve and muscle. However, the endogenous factors normally required for motoneuron survival following nerve injury have eluded identification. Two interrelated hypotheses were tested: (1) administration of insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) can support the survival of postbirth motoneurons, and (2) endogenous IGFs are essential for motoneuron survival following nerve injury. We report that IGF-II locally administered close to the proximal nerve stump prevented the death of motoneurons (estimated by relative numbers of neuronal profiles) which ordinarily follows sciatic nerve transection in neonatal rats. By contrast, anti-IGF antiserum, as well as IGF binding proteins-4 and -6, significantly increased (P < 0.01) motoneuron death. This report shows that IGF-II can support survival, and contains the novel observation that endogenous IGF activity in or near nerves is required for motoneuron survival. Other studies have determined that IGF gene and protein expression are increased in nerve and muscle following sciatic nerve crush, and that IGFs are required for nerve regeneration. Taken together, these data show that IGFs are nerve- and muscle-derived soluble factors that support motoneuron survival as well as nerve regeneration.

Biologists under Hitler

Part 1 The expulsion and emigration of scientists, 1933-1939 - a brief summary of legal measures non-Aryan dismissals and emigrations political dismissals and emigrations the impact of the expulsion of biologists on research in germany Viktor Hamburger and Johannes Holtfreter: the expulsion of two eminent experimental embryologists dismissed biologists able to continue their work in Germany Karl von Frisch, the Mischling, and the solidarity of his colleagues the return of emigre biologists to scientific institutes in germany after 1945 Wiedergutmachung in public and civil service Gerta von Ubisch: the emigration and return of a professor. Part 2 NSDAP membership, careers, and research funding - NSDAP membership the significance of NSDAP membership for habilitation and appointments the chair in zoology in Munster, 1935-1937 biology: the example of Ernst Lehmann the Notgemeinschaft (Emergency Association) of German science, the German research association, and the Reich Research Council under national socialism funding for biological projects by the DFG and the RFR, 1933-1945, and the significance of NSDAP membership research funding for biologists at universities and Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes research funding and the quality of research funding according to individuals and specialities the political and ideological background to research funding. Part 3 The content and result of research at universities - botany zoology Konrad Lorenz, ethology, and national socialist racial doctrine. Part 4 The content and result of research at Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes - the KWI for biology, Berlin-Dahlem the division for virus research of the KWIs for biology and biochemistry, Berlin-Dahlem the KWI for cultivated plant research, Tuttenholf the KWI for breeding research (Erwin Baur Institute), Muncheberg the genetic department of the KWI for brain research, Berlin-Buch the KWI for biophysics, Franfurt the department of hereditary pathology of the KWI for anthropology, human genetics, and eugenics, Berlin-Dahlem: the example of Hans Nachtsheim. Part 5 Scientific research by the SS - the scientific interests of Heinrich Himmler The SS Research and Teaching Society Das Ahnenerbe Heinz Brucher at the Ahnenerbe's Institute for plant genetic, Lannach Eduard May at the Ahnenerbe's entomological Institute, Dachau SS research at the University of Jena: Gerhard Heberer, human origins, and the Nordic race. Part 6 Research to develop biological weapons - the working group Blitzableiter biological warfare research under deputy Reich physician Fuhrer Kurt Blome. (Part contents).

Introduction: Johannes Holtfreter, pioneer in experimental embryology.

Developmental DynamicsVolume 205, Issue 3 p. 214-216 Free Access Introduction: Johannes Holtfreter, pioneer in experimental embryology Viktor Hamburger, Corresponding Author Viktor Hamburger Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63110Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, MO 63110Search for more papers by this author Viktor Hamburger, Corresponding Author Viktor Hamburger Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63110Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, MO 63110Search for more papers by this author First published: March 1996 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0177(199603)205:3<214::AID-AJA2>3.0.CO;2-LCitations: 9AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. References Holtfreter, J. (1939) Tissue affinity, a means of embryonic morphogenesis. Archiv für Experimentelle Zellforschung 23: 169– 209. Townes, P. L., and Holtfreter, J. (1955) Directed movements and selective adhesion of embryonic amphibian cells. J. Exp. Zool. 123: 53– 120. Trinkaus, J. P. (1984) Cells Into Organs. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc. Citing Literature Volume205, Issue3March 1996Pages 214-216 ReferencesRelatedInformation

A series of normal stages in the development of the chick embryo

Developmental DynamicsVolume 195, Issue 4 p. 231-272 ArticleFree Access A series of normal stages in the development of the chick embryo Viktor Hamburger, Corresponding Author Viktor Hamburger Department of Zoology, Washington University, St. Louis, MissouriDr. Joshua R. Sanes, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, MO 63110Search for more papers by this authorHoward L. Hamilton, Howard L. Hamilton Department of Zoology and Entomology, Iowa State College, AmesSearch for more papers by this author Viktor Hamburger, Corresponding Author Viktor Hamburger Department of Zoology, Washington University, St. Louis, MissouriDr. Joshua R. Sanes, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, MO 63110Search for more papers by this authorHoward L. Hamilton, Howard L. Hamilton Department of Zoology and Entomology, Iowa State College, AmesSearch for more papers by this author First published: December 1992 https://doi.org/10.1002/aja.1001950404Citations: 1,342AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL References Duval, Mathias (1989) Atlas d'Embryologie. ( 116 pp., 40 plates). Paris. Hamburger, Viktor (1938) Morphogenetic and axial self-differentiation of transplanted limb primordia of 2-day chick embryos. J. Exp. Zool., 77: 379– 399. Hamburger, Viktor 1942 A Manual of Experimental Embryology. 213 pp. University of Chicago Press. Kelbel, F., and K. Abraham 1900 Normentafel zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des Huhnes (Gallus domesticus). 132 pp. Jena. Spratt, Nelson T., Jr. 1942 Location of organ-specific regions and their re-lationship to the development of the primitive streak in the early chick blastoderm. J. Exp. Zool., 89: 69– 101. Nelson, T. Spratt, Jr. 1946 Formation of the primitive streak in the explanted chick blastoderm marked with carbon particles. J. Exp. Zool., 103: 259– 304. Saunders John W., Jr. 1948 The proximo-distal sequence of origin of the parts of the chick wing and the role of the ectoderm. J. Exp. Zool., 108: 363– 403. Citing Literature Volume195, Issue4December 1992Pages 231-272 ReferencesRelatedInformation