Marshall Barber and the century of microinjection: from cloning of bacteria to cloning of everything.
A hundred years ago, Dr. Marshall A. Barber proposed a new technique - the microinjection technique. He developed this method initially to clone bacteria and to confirm the germ theory of Koch and Pasteur. Later on, he refined his approach and was able to manipulate nuclei in protozoa and to implant bacteria into plant cells. Continuous improvement and adaptation of this method to new applications dramatically changed experimental embryology and cytology and led to the formation of several new scientific disciplines including animal cloning as one of its latest applications. Interestingly, microinjection originated as a method at the crossroad of bacteriology and plant biology, demonstrating once again the unforeseen impact that basic research in an unrelated field can have on the development of entirely different disciplines.
Institute of Molecular Agrobiology, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117604. vlald@ima.org.sg
Vladimir
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Korzh
Uwe
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Strähle
D000818:Animals; D001432:Bacteriology / Q000266:history*; D019976:Cloning, Organism / Q000266:history* / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008845:Microinjections / Q000266:history*; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000266:history / Q000295:instrumentation; D014330:Tropical Medicine / Q000266:history; D014481:United States