Vincent Wigglesworth

Vincent Wigglesworth

Infobox Scientist
name = Vincent Wigglesworth
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caption = Vincent Wigglesworth
birth_date = 17 April 1899
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death_date = 11 February 1994
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nationality = British
ethnicity =
field = entomologist
work_institutions = University of Cambridge
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known_for = metamorphosis
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Sir Vincent Brian Wigglesworth (17 April 1899 - 11 February 1994) was a British entomologist who made significant contributions to the field of insect physiology. In particular, Wigglesworth was interested in the study of metamorphosis. His most significant contribution was the discovery that neurosecretory cells in the brain of the South American kissing bug, "Rhodnius prolixus", secrete a crucial growth hormone which regulates the process of metamorphosis. This was the first experimental confirmation of the function of neurosecretory cells. He went on to discover another hormone, called the juvenile hormone, which prevented the development of adult characteristics in "R. prolixus" until the insect had reached the appropriate larval stage. Wigglesworth was able to distort the developmental phases of the insect by controlling levels of this hormone. From these observations, Wigglesworth was able to develop a coherent theory of how an insect's genome can selectively activate hormones which determine its development and morphology.

Wigglesworth also described the bacterium "Wigglesworthia glossinidia brevipalpis", an endosymbiont related to "E. coli" which lives in the gut of the tsetse fly. It was later discovered that this bacterium had one of the smallest known genomes, a fact which made it important in the research of the minimal genome which is required to support life.

Wigglesworth also served in the military in France in World War I. He received his degree from the University of Cambridge. He lectured at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of London, and finally at the University of Cambridge. He became the Quick Professor of Biology at the University of Cambridge in 1952 and was knighted in 1964.

References

*Citation
id = PMID:9654033
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9654033
last=Edwards
first=J S
publication-date=1998
year=1998
title=Sir Vincent Wigglesworth and the coming of age of insect development.
volume=42
issue=3
periodical=Int. J. Dev. Biol.
pages=471-3
*Citation
id = PMID:7813762
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7813762
last=Edwards
first=J S
publication-date=1994 Dec
year=1994
title=In memoriam Sir Vincent Brian Wigglesworth (1899-1994).
volume=166
issue=2
periodical=Dev. Biol.
pages=361-2

External links

* [http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FWIGG The Papers of Sir Vincent Wigglesworth from the Janus archive at the University of Cambridge]
*


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  • Wigglesworth, Sir Vincent — ▪ British entomologist born April 17, 1899, Kirkham, Lancashire, Eng. died Feb. 11, 1994, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire       English entomologist, noted for his contribution to the study of insect physiology. His investigations of the living insect… …   Universalium

  • Wigglesworth, Sir Vincent Brian — ▪ 1995       British entomologist (b. April 17, 1899, Kirkham, Lancashire, England d. Feb. 11?, 1994, Cambridge, England), pioneered in the study of insect physiology; he was particularly respected for his research into the role of hormones in… …   Universalium

  • Wigglesworth , Sir Vincent Brian — (1899–1994) British entomologist Born at Kirkham in England, Wigglesworth was educated at Cambridge University and at St. Thomas s Hospital, London. He subsequently held posts as lecturer in medical entomology at the London School of Hygiene and… …   Scientists

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