Edouard-Gérard Balbiani (July 31, 1823 – July 25, 1899) was a French embryologist who was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was educated in Frankfurt and Paris. In Paris he studied natural sciences under famed zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777-1850). In 1874 he became professor of embryogeny at the Collège de France, where he remained until his death in 1899.
Balbiani is known for his work in microbiology as well as his studies in embryology. He is credited with the discovery of sexual organ development in Chironomus which eventually led to the general theory regarding the autonomy of the germ cell. Also, he conducted comprehensive biological research on the sexual habits of Phylloxera vastatrix,[1] and with anatomist Louis-Antoine Ranvier (1835-1922), he founded the Archives d'anatomie microscopique.
In 1884, his daughter Laure Balbiani married psychologist Alfred Binet.
Associated eponyms
- Balbiani's vesicles: cytoplasmatic structures that form in the yolks of young ovules.
- Balbiani ring: a large chromosome puff.
Selected publications
- Sur la structure denoyau des cellules salivaires chez les larvesde Chironomus. Balbiani, E.G. Zool. Anz. 4: 637-641,662-666
- Le phylloxera du chene et le phylloxera de la rigne (1884)
References
   |
This article about a French zoologist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
