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Stéphane Leduc

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Stéphane Leduc

Stéphane Leduc (1 November 1853 – 8 March 1939) was a French biologist who sought to contribute to understanding of the chemical and physical mechanisms of life.[1] He was a scientist in the fledgling field of synthetic biology, particularly in relation to diffusion and osmosis. He was a professor at the École de Médecine de Nantes and worked on osmotic crystallisation and the physiological effects of electric current. He was an Officier de la Légion d'honneur.

Views

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Leduc believed that it is necessary to appreciate biological processes from a physical perspective and constructed models from physics and chemistry to try to explain development and growth; these would typically involve ingenious combinations of chemicals to produce systems which mimicked the appearance of living processes such as karyokinesis and "remarkable fungus-like forms".[1] He "[repudiated] extra-physical forces in the phenomena of life".[1] According to Keller, these models were largely unsuccessful, "not just because of the conspicuous artificiality of his osmotic growths".[1] Leduc sought to synthesise life "by directing the physical forces which are its cause" (in his own words).[1]

See also

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Publications

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  • Leduc, Stéphane (1906). Les bases physiques de la vie et la biogenèse. Paris: Masson.
  • Leduc, Stéphane (1912). Poinat, A. (ed.). La biologie synthétique, étude de biophysique.

Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Keller, Evelyn Fox (2003). "2. Morphology as a Science of Mechanical Sources". Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines. Harvard University Press. pp. 51–55. ISBN 0-674-01250-X. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
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