"Experimental Studies on Congenital Malformations" (1959), by James G. Wilson

The article "Experimental Studies on Congenital Malformations" was published in the Journal of Chronic Diseases in 1959. The author, James G. Wilson, studied embryos and birth defects [3] at the University of Florida Medical School in Gainesville, Florida. In his article, Wilson reviewed experiments on birds [4] and mammals from the previous forty years to provide general principles and guidelines in the study of birth defects [3] and teratogens, which are things that cause birth defects [3]. Those principles included what species are convenient for conducting teratological research, what principles act in human embryological and fetal development, and what agents impact those processes. Wilson's article was one of the first attempts in the twentieth century to synthesize basic research conducted in the field of teratology [5]. The article helped to establish teratology [5] as a field in medicine during the twentieth century.