Julia Barlow Platt (14 September 1857, in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

– 1935) was an American

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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and mayor.

Life

Julia Platt received her undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont before moving to Cambridge to perform research at the Harvard Annex in 1887. During her time at Harvard, she challenged the anti-coeducational policies in place. In 1889, she left Harvard to take courses and do research at Woods Hole, Clark University, the University of Chicago, Bryn Mawr, the University of Freiberg, the Naples Zoological Station, and the University of Munich. She obtained her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

in 1898. She investigated

embryogenesis An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for 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 ...

, in particular the head

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

, from studying sharks and salamanders. Her most notable contribution to the field was her demonstration that

neural crest The neural crest is a ridge-like structure that is formed transiently between the epidermal ectoderm and neural plate during vertebrate development. Neural crest cells originate from this structure through the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, ...

cells formed the jaw cartilage and tooth dentine in ''Necturus maculosus'' (mudpuppy embryos), but her work was not believed by her contemporaries. Her claim went counter to the belief that only

mesoderm The mesoderm is the middle layer of the three germ layers that develops during gastrulation in the very early development of the embryo of most animals. The outer layer is the ectoderm, and the inner layer is the endoderm.Langman's Medical ...

could form bones and cartilage. Her hypothesis of the neural crest origin of the cranial skeleton gained acceptance only some 50 years later when confirmed by

Sven Hörstadius Sven Hörstadius (1898–1996) was a Swedish embryologist known for his work on sea urchin embryos. He was responsible for an increased understanding of the neural crest. Hörstadius studied under John Runnström at Stockholm University College ...

and Sven Sellman. Unable to obtain a doctoral degree from Radcliffe or secure a university position, she said "if I cannot obtain the work I wish, then I must take up with the next best" and then became active in politics, including tearing down a fence to give the public access to the beach at Lover's Point in

Pacific Grove, California Pacific Grove is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city had a population of 15,090 at the 2020 census. Pacific Grove is a popular tourist destination on ...

. In 1931, at the age of 74, she became mayor of Pacific Grove,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. According to Steve Palumbi and Carolyn Sotka, her prescient pioneering setting up of a

marine protected area A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity ...

was crucial to the recovery of the

sea otter The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of ...

Publications

* Platt, J. B. (1890): "The Anterior Head-Cavities of Acanthias (Preliminary Notice)", Zool. Anz. 13: 239 * Platt, J. B. (1892): "Fibres connecting the Central Nervous System and Chorda in Amphioxus", Anat. Anz. 7: 282-284 * Platt, J. B. (1893): "Ectodermic Origin of the Cartilages of the Head", Anat. Anz. 8: 506-509 * Platt, J. B. (1894): "Ontogenetische Differenzirung des Ektoderms in Necturus", Archiv mikr. Anat. 43: 911-966 * Platt, J. B. (1894): "Ontogenetic Differentiations of the Ectoderm in Necturus" Anat. Anz. 9: 51-56 * Platt, J. B. (1898): "The development of the cartilaginous skull and of the branchial and hypoglossal musculature in Necturus", Morphol. Jahrb. 25: 377-464

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Platt, Julia 1857 births 1935 deaths American embryologists Harvard University alumni Mayors of places in California People from Pacific Grove, California Activists from California Women mayors of places in California