Ross Granville Harrison was one of the pioneers of experimental embryology and tissue culture techniques. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Harrison was the only son of Samuel Harrison, a mechanical engineer, and Catherine Barrington Diggs. While Harrison was still a child, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland. In 1889, he enrolled in Johns Hopkins University and began to study zoology with William Keith Brooks. Five years later he earned his Ph.D. for morphological research on the development of the paired and unpaired fins of bony fishes. Ross carried out some of this research in Bonn, Germany, where he worked with Moritz Nussbaum (1892-1893). Further studies in Bonn allowed Harrison to earn his M.D. degree in 1899, but he never practiced medicine.

During academic year 1894-1895, Harrison served as a lecturer on morphology at Bryn Mawr College, as a substitute for Thomas Hunt Morgan. In 1896, Harrison returned to Johns...