Morphogenesis, Dictyostelium, and the search for shared developmental processes.

In the 1930s John Tyler Bonner began studying the slime mold, Dictyostelium discoideum, as a way to investigate how organisms develop. With a life cycle that includes periods of unicellularity and multicellularity, Dictyostelium raises questions fundamental to development and evolution. In Morphogenesis: An Essay on Development (1952), Bonner built on his work with Dictyostelium to inform developmental theory and practice.

Regeneration: Thomas Hunt Morgan's window into development.

Early in his career Thomas Hunt Morgan was interested in embryology and dedicated his research to studying organisms that could regenerate. Widely regarded as a regeneration expert, Morgan was invited to deliver a series of lectures on the topic that he developed into a book, Regeneration (1901). In addition to presenting experimental work that he had conducted and supervised, Morgan also synthesized and critiqued a great deal of work by his peers and predecessors.