1905-1975

British embryologist and geneticist who made great strides in the study of embryonic development. Waddington was born in Evesham, Worcestershire, England, and studied geology at the University of Cambridge. He later turned his attention to the study of biology, teaching zoology at Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, and animal genetics at the University of Edinburgh. In the 1930s, he studied the embryonic development of birds and mammals, and investigated the role played by genes in regulating tissue and organ development. After World War II, Waddington established the Unit of Animal Genetics for the British Agricultural Research Council, where he studied livestock breeding. His many published works include Principles of Embryology (1956) and The Ethical Animal (1960).