C.H. Waddington's lasting achievements in development and evolution.

Authors

Jonathan B L Bard

Published in

Development (Cambridge, England). Volume 153. Issue 12. Jun 15, 2026. Epub Jun 19, 2026.

Abstract

C.H. Waddington (1905-1975) was a British biologist and perhaps the major figure in developmental biology between the 1940s and 1960s. He is one of the few pre-molecular-age developmental biologists still widely remembered. This is for his pioneering work on using mutations to probe embryogenesis, for his deep analysis of how gene activity drives developmental change (summarised in his illustration of the epigenetic landscape), for his exploration of the mechanics of evolutionary change in the developing phenotype and for his terminology, much of which remains in common usage. Waddington died some 50 years ago, and this short article examines some of his key research papers that underpin these achievements and still remain significant. The supplementary material, available online, includes songs composed for Waddington's 50th birthday.

PMID:
42319758
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 19 Jun 2026.

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