Spemann-Mangold Organizer

The Spemann-Mangold organizer [6], also known as the Spemann organizer [6], is a cluster of cells in the developing embryo of an amphibian that induces development of the central nervous system [7]. Hilde Mangold [8] was a PhD candidate who conducted the organizer [6] experiment in 1921 under the direction of her graduate advisor, Hans Spemann [9] at the University of Freiburg [10] in Freiburg, Germany. The discovery of the Spemann-Mangold organizer [6] introduced the concept of induction [11] in embryonic development. Now integral to the field of developmental biology, induction [11] is the process by which the identity of certain cells influences the developmental fate of surrounding cells. Spemann received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1935 for his work in describing the process of induction [11] in amphibians [12]. The Spemann-Mangold organizer [6] drew the attention of embryologists, and it spurred numerous experiments on the nature of induction [11] in many types of developing embryos.