Edouard-Gérard Balbiani

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Edouard-Gérard Balbiani (July 31, 1823 - July 25, 1899 was a French embryologist who was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was educated in Frankfurt and Paris. In Paris he studied natural sciences under famed zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777-1850). In 1874 he became professor of embryogeny at the Collège de France, where he remained until his death in 1899.

Balbiani is known for his work in microbiology as well as his studies in embryology. He is credited with the discovery of sexual organ development in Chironomus which eventually led to the general theory regarding the autonomy of the germ cell. Also, along with anatomist Louis-Antoine Ranvier (1835-1922), he founded the Archives d'anatomie microscopique. There are numerous microscopic organisms that are named after Balbiani, including Sphaeromyxa balbianii, Trypanosoma balbianii, Cristlspira balbianii, Didinium balbianii, Monodinium balbianii and Spirillum balbianii.

In 1884, his daughter Laure Balbiani married psychologist Alfred Binet.

Eponyms named after Balbiani:

• Balbiani's vesicles: cytoplasmatic structures that form in the yolks of young ovules.
• Balbiani ring: a large chromosome puff.

Bibliography:

• Sur la structure denoyau des cellules salivaires chez les larvesde Chironomus. Balbiani, E.G. Zool. Anz. 4: 637-641,662-666

Reference:

• Who Named It?, E.G. Balbiani