Andrzej Krzysztof Tarkowski (4 May 1933 – 23 September 2016) was a Polish

embryologist Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

and a professor at

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

. He is best known for his pioneering researches on

embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

s and

blastomere In biology, a blastomere is a type of cell produced by cell division (cleavage) of the zygote after fertilization; blastomeres are an essential part of blastula formation, and blastocyst formation in mammals. Human blastomere characteristics In h ...

s, which have created theoretical and practical basis for achievements of

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

of the twentieth century -

in vitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, cl ...

and

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

discovery. In 2002 Tarkowski with

Anne McLaren Dame Anne Laura Dorinthea McLaren, (26 April 1927 – 7 July 2007) was a British scientist who was a leading figure in developmental biology. Her work helped lead to human in vitro fertilisation (IVF),Japan Prize is awarded to people from all parts of the world whose "original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind." The P ...

for their discoveries concerning the early development of mammalian embryos.

Career

In 1950 Tarkowski was admitted to study at the Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences (currently the Faculty of Biology) University of Warsaw. He graduated in 1955 with M.Sc. degree. His Ph.D. was received in 1959, and in 1963 he reached a D.Sc. degree at the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw. In 1972 he was appointed professor. He eventually received full professorship in 1978. From 1964 until his retirement in 2003 he was the head of the Department of Embryology, and during two periods (1972-1981; 1987-2003) he was the head of the Institute of Zoology in the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw. Tarkowski contributed to international science throughout his professional life. He collaborated with many research centers around the world. He was a Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation in the Department of Zoology, University College of North Wales (UK), and served as a visiting professor of the Royal Society at the University of Oxford (UK), Rockefeller University of New York (USA), University of Adelaide (Australia) and Institute of Jacques Monod CNRS and Paris University XVII (France). Tarkowski was also a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Sciences, and Academia Europaea. In 1997-2004 he was also a member of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for Polish Science. In 2003 professor Tarkowski retired.

Research

Pioneering work of Andrzej K. Tarkowski initiated in 1950s formed the basis not only for modern mammalian developmental biology and progress in animal breeding, but also in such techniques as assisted reproduction (in vitro fertilisation) or preimplantational diagnostics. In 1959 Tarkowski showed that a single blastomere isolated from a 2-cell stage mouse embryo is fully able to develop and the result is healthy and fertile mouse (Tarkowski, 1959, Nature). His next achievement was, reported in 1961, birth of first chimaeric mice produced experimentally by injecting blastomeres from one embryo to genetically different embryo (Tarkowski, 1961;Nature). Since then the chimaera has become a useful tool, used in producing

genetically modified animal Genetically modified animals are animals that have been genetically modified for a variety of purposes including producing drugs, enhancing yields, increasing resistance to disease, etc. The vast majority of genetically modified animals are at the ...

s (in this technique genetically engineered stem cells are aggregated with developing embryo. Chimaera obtained this way is phenotypically changed and passes it to the next generation). In 1966 Tarkowski developed a technique which enabled observing chromosome in oocytes, which has been widely used in early studies of embryo (Tarkowski, 1967; Cytogenetics). This publication is often cited, although has been publicised over 50 years ago. In later years professor Tarkowski with his collaborators showed for the first time in history that parthenogenetically activated mouse oocytes are able of developing until mid-gestation (Tarkowski, et al.,1970;Nature). It was a serious argument for the hypothesis of genomic imprinting. Mutually with his Ph.D. student Jacek Kubiak, Tarkowski devised a technique of blastomere electrofusion leading to the generation of tetraploid embryo. Although Professor Tarkowski retired in 2003, he still continued his researches by undertaking new experiments and inventing new techniques.

Personal life

Professor Tarkowski was passionate about photography. His photographic exhibitions - "Botanical impressions", "Tree and Wood", "The Earth We Walk On" and "On the Border of Nature and Abstraction" - have been appreciated in many Polish cities.

Honours and awards

The achievements of Tarkowski have been honored with prestigious scientific awards such as the Albert Brachet Prize of the Royal Academy of Belgium (1980), Polish National Award (1980), the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation Award (1984), the Embryo Transfer Pioneer Award, the International Embryo Transfer Society Award (1991), and the Commander's Cross with star of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

(2012). He was also a laureate of the

Foundation for Polish Science The Foundation For Polish Science ( pl, Fundacja na rzecz Nauki Polskiej, FNP) is an independent, non-profit making organisation which aim at improving the opportunities for doing research in Poland. Established in 1990, registered in 1991, the ...

Prize (2013) and the

Japan Prize is awarded to people from all parts of the world whose "original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind." The P ...

(2002). He also received a Doctor Honoris Causa degree at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

(2000) and at the

Medical University of Łódź The Medical University of Łódź was founded on October 1, 2002 as a merger of the Medical Academy of Łódź (founded January 1, 1950) and the Military Medical Academy of Łódź (founded July 1, 1958). It is the largest teaching hospital un ...

(2005). He died on 23 September 2016.

Most influential publications

# Tarkowski, A.K. (1959) Experiments on the development of isolated blastomeres of mouse eggs. Nature 184, 1286-1287 # Tarkowski, A.K. (1961) Mouse chimaeras developed from fused eggs. Nature 190, 857-860. # Tarkowski, A.K. (1966) An air-drying method for chromosome preparations from mouse eggs. Cytogenetics 5, 394-400. # Tarkowski, A.K. and Wroblewska, J. (1967) Development of blastomeres of mouse eggs isolated at the 4- and 8-cell stage. J. Embryol. exp. Morph., 18, 155-180. # Tarkowski, A.K., Witkowska, A., and Nowicka, J. (1970) Experimental parthenogenesis in the mouse. Nature 226, 162-165. # Tarkowski, A.K. and Rossant, J. (1976) Haploid mouse blastocysts developed from bisected zygotes. Nature 259, 663-665. # Tarkowski, A.K., Witkowska, A. and Opas, J. (1977) Development of cytochalasin B-induced tetraploid and diploid/tetraploid mosaic mouse embryos. J. Embryol. exp. Morph. 41, 47-64. # Czolowska, R., Modlinski, J.A. and Tarkowski, A.K. (1984) Behaviour of thymocyte nuclei in non-activated and activated mouse oocytes. J. Cell Sci. 69, 19-34. # Kubiak and Tarkowski (1985)Electrofusion of mouse blastomeres. Exp. Cell Res. 157, 561-566. # Tarkowski et al. (2001) Mouse singletons and twins developed from isolated diploid blastomeres supported with tetraploid blastomeres. Int. J. Dev. Biol. 45, 591-596. # Tarkowski et al. (2005) Identical triplets and twins developed from isolated blastomeres of 8- and 16-cell mouse embryos supported with tetraploid blastomeres. Int. J. Dev. Biol. 49, 825-832. # Suwińska et al. (2005) Experimentally produced diploid-triploid mouse chimaeras develop up to adulthood. Mol. Rep. Dev. 72, 362-376. # Tarkowski et al. (2010) Individual blastomeres of 16- and 32- cell mouse embryos are able to develop into foetuses and mice. Dev. Biol. 348, 190-198.

References

External links

Information about Tarkowski
-

webpage {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarkowski, Andrzej Krzysztof 1933 births 2016 deaths Polish biologists Members of the French Academy of Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland)