Spanish geneticist Antonio Garcia Bellido He died on Tuesday at the age of 89. This brilliant scientist was considered a world leader in evolutionary biology and genetics.
The intellectual career seems to be linked to his lineage: son of the historian and archaeologist Antonio García y Bellido, and grandson of the philologist Vicente García de Diego.
Garcia Bellido Graduated in biological sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid in 1958, and only four years later, in 1962, he received his doctorate with an exceptional award and became part of the Superior Council for Scientific Research (CSIC).
His educational desire also led him to fashion himself among the greats, where he resided academically at Cambridge, Zurich, and Caltech, surrounded by such major figures as V. B. Wigglesworth, Ernest Hadorn, and Edward P. Lewis.
His revolutionary discovery
In 1974 he was appointed Research Professor at CSIC and With other Spanish pioneers, he founded the Severo Ochoa Center for Molecular Biologyan institution of which he was the cornerstone, where for 32 years he directed the Developmental Genetics Laboratory.
García Bellido particularly stands out for being the first to understand and describe this Genetic information determines not only individual characteristics cells during embryonic development.
He investigated the way these cells are organized into patterns and organs, and solved the mystery of how the complex structure of living organisms arises from an original cell.
His discovery of so-called cellular “compartments” was published in nature In 1973, it revolutionized modern biology and was championed by Francis Crick, Nobel Prize winner, and Peter Lawrence, later Prince of Asturias laureate, as a major achievement in understanding the logic of biological evolution.
Throughout his career, the Spanish scientist produced 22 doctoral theses and Signed more than 165 reference publicationsmany of which have been cited as world classics.
In fact, his theory of compartments was proposed for the Nobel Prize in 1979 and is still cited in seminal evidence such as Genetics From Strickburger or Molecular biology of the cell By Alberts.
World Heritage
His influence extended to universities and research centers around the world, through hundreds of conferences and international cooperation, and through his teaching It has distinguished several generations of researchers Whether in Spain or abroad.
García Bellido has been honored with numerous awards, among them the Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research (1984), the status of a member of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, and emblematic international scientific societies such as EMBO and the Royal Society.
He also received an honorary doctorate from several European and American universities, and is a scientific advisor to institutions and centers of excellence.
The legacy of Antonio García Bellido, considered the father of the Spanish school of developmental biology, goes beyond his notable scientific contributions.
He left a scientific community recognized on a global scale A new vision about inheritance and the formation of complex organisms.
Spanish science, today more international and respected than ever, owes to him a large part of its prestige, while colleagues and pupils mourn the loss of a rigorous, innovative and very humane teacher, whose example will continue to inspire generations to come.
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