Deconstructing Ernst Haeckel's Biogenetic Law: Aspects of recapitulation on biological levels

EvoDevo is calling for submissions to a new Collection titled “Deconstructing Ernst Haeckel's Biogenetic Law: Aspects of recapitulation on biological levels”. This collection features research presented at the 64th Phylogenetic Symposium.

The theme of the 64th Phylogenetic Symposium was Ernst Haeckel’s “Biogenetic Law”, which states that the development of an individual is a short recapitulation of the evolutionary history (first published by Ernst Haeckel in 1866 in volume II of the “Generelle Morphologie der Organismen”). Based on this rule, Ernst Haeckel also hypothesized a last common ancestor of all animals is “Gastraea”, which reflects the embryonic stage of the gastrula. Together, the recapitulation theory also influenced the use of embryology as criterion of homology. 

With resurging interest in comparative developmental biology and state of the art molecular methods, the “biogenetic law” has experienced a revival. For instance, comparative transcriptomic studies and gene expression analyses during development revealed a conserved mid-stage of development (“phylotypic stage”), during which the oldest genes are expressed. The Phylogenetic Symposium aimed to:

• Assess the newest molecular approaches (such as gene regulatory network studies, chromatin conformation and single-cell transcriptomics) in the context of the recapitulation theory.

• Discuss data supporting the biogenetic law in the light of exceptions that have been brought up from the opponents of Ernst Haeckel’s theory. 

• Discuss general embryonic diversity on the background of novel technologies to gain a state-of-the-art view on the “biogenetic law” and its possible interpretations. 

• Inspire novel research questions that can be addressed in a collaborative effort.