Paul Wintrebert (1867–1966) was a French embryologist and a theoretician of developmental biology.

He coined the term cytoskeleton (cytosquelette) in 1931.[1]

He held radical epigenetic views. In his 60s, he published a trilogy in which he describes his position on life process and living being: Le vivant créateur de son évolution (The living being is the creator of his own evolution) (1962), Le développement du vivant par lui-même (The self-development of the living being) (1963), and L'existence délivrée de l'existentialisme (Existence delivered from existentialism) (1965).[2]

He was a critic of the mutationist theory of evolution. His views have been described as a "biochemical Lamarckism".[3]

References

  1. ^ Frixione E (June 2000). "Recurring views on the structure and function of the cytoskeleton: a 300-year epic". Cell Motility and the Cytoskeleton. 46 (2): 73–94. doi:10.1002/1097-0169(200006)46:2<73::AID-CM1>3.0.CO;2-0. PMID 10891854.
  2. ^ Fischer, Jean-Louis (1990). "Experimental embryology in France (1887–1936)". The International Journal of Developmental Biology. 34 (1): 20. PMID 2203449.
  3. ^ Boesiger, Ernest (1974). "Evolutionary theories after Lamarck and Darwin". In Ayala, Francisco José; Dobzhansky, Theodosius (eds.). Studies in the Philosophy of Biology: Reduction and Related Problems. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02649-7. LCCN 73090656. OCLC 1265669. "Papers presented at a conference on problems of reduction in biology, held in Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio, Italy, Sept. 9-16, 1972."
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