Who are some of the famous cytologists and what are their contributions?

Answer 1

The cell was first discovered by Robert Hookein 1665. He examined very thin slices of cork and saw a multitude of tiny pores that he remarked looked like the walled compartments of a honeycomb. Because of this association, Hooke called them cells, the name they still bear. However, Hooke did not know their real structure or function. Hooke's description of these cells (which were actually non-living cell walls) was published in Micrographia. His cell observations gave no indication of the nucleus and other organelles found in most living cells. The first man to witness a live cell under a microscope was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who in 1674 described the algae Spirogyra and named the moving organisms animalcules, meaning "little animals". Leeuwenhoek probably also saw bacteria. Cell theory was in contrast to the vitalism theories that had been proposed before the discovery of cells.

Answer 2

Some famous cytologists include Theodor Boveri, who discovered the role of chromosomes in heredity, and George Papanicolaou, known for developing the Pap smear test for Cervical cancer screening. Thomas Hunt Morgan's work on fruit flies helped establish the chromosomal theory of inheritance. Lynn Margulis proposed the endosymbiotic theory of the origin of eukaryotic cells.