British cell theory on the eve of genetics.

Many historians have assumed that the advent of the chromosome theory of heredity and the theory of the gene settled the old debate over preformation versus epigenesis in favour of preformation. An analysis of the views of leading British cytologists between 1900 and 1920 indicates that the story is more complex. Cytologists could accept seemingly preformationist tenets about the hereditary factors and yet maintain an overall epigenetic view of organism development by assuming that genes interact dynamically with the cytoplasm and that the cell is influenced by its environment throughout growth and development.