From the Manuwatu Standard: (not online)
Tim Brown in the Analyse That column remembers the achievements of George Palade “the father of modern cell biology”, who died last month.
An excerpt:
“What was the significance of the advent of cell biology as a distinct discipline on the scientific scene? Firstly it gave biology the focus and integrity that bology had lacked thus far, but which had been enjoyed by physics and chemistry.
“As much of the progress in cell biology came from the application of physics and chemistry to biological problems the boundaries between these three science became much less rigid and opened up whole new areas of scientific endeavour.
“As the studies moved from pure cell biology into areas such as medicine and biotechnology the elucidation of many systems which had been mysteries so far came tumbling out. The journals dealing with aspects of cell biology multiplied.
“Much of today’s medical and biotechnological knowledge is based on the work of Dr Palade and his colleagues. What were the main focuses of this work?
“In the late 40s the improvement in preparation and slicing of cells made massive inroads in the knowledge of sub-cellular structures. With the increased use and sophistication of the electron microscope a whole new world of microanatomy unfolded.”