Belgian embryologist and cytologist born in Louvain or Leuven, great researcher in the field of species reproduction, pioneer in the description of meiosis (1887), the gamete formation process, by demonstrating the constancy of the number of chromosomes in the cells, decreasing by half during maturation and restoring itself after fertilization. He began his studies working with his own father, P. J. van Beneden, a professor of zoology and researcher of protozoan and nematode groups. He entered (1870) the University of Liège, where he never left, initially dedicating himself to his studies of comparative morphology.
He published (1883) a series of researches on a roundworm, Ascaris megalocephala, demonstrating that fertilization consisted of union of two pronuclei, one female and one male, each carrying half of the chromosomes that each cell need. He also demonstrated that the number of chromosomes in the cell nucleus would be constant for each species. and that the chromosomes remained unchanged in a cell division to form a next. Thus, he studied the behavior of chromosomes during meiosis, division of reduction, and helped to clarify their role in heredity and development (1883). He finally published the general result of his conclusions in Erkenntnisse über Chromosomen (1887) and died in Liège.
Source: http://www.dec.ufcg.edu.br/biografias/
Order and - Biography - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/edouard-joseph-louis-marie-van-beneden.htm
