Wilhelm Roux Performed an Experiment in Which He Allowed a Frog

Essay

Wilhelm Roux performed an experiment in which he allowed a frog embryo to divide into two cells.He then killed one of the cells with a hot needle,but did not separate the cell he had killed from the remaining cell.The embryo developed abnormally,leading Roux to conclude that the cells in a developing embryo have their developmental potential restricted at each division,even the first.Driesch and others demonstrated that separation of cells in a number of embryos resulted in the development of two smaller,but normal,embryos.Which of these investigators is most likely to have made a procedural error in his experimental design and what was it?