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Abel Salazar’s explorations of the Golgi area in mammalian cells, or when staining and drawing converge

Maria Strecht Almeida, ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto

 

The present paper is framed within the history of biology and addresses the place of visual representations in scientific practice in the life sciences and its role in knowledge production. Specifically, it looks at the research developed in the early twentieth century by the histologist Abel L. Salazar (1889-1946) around a fundamental question in biology, the function of the Golgi region in mammalian cells. Medical doctor, professor, scientist and visual artist, Abel Salazar is a multifaceted figure of the Portuguese cultural setting of his time. Expelled from academia by political reasons, his research career has been relatively short. This paper examines his effort in the implementation and improvement of methodological approaches for the study of mammalian tissue slices, and particularly the work focused on the Golgi area in mammalian cells. The tanno-ferric method on which Salazar based his research enabled him to identify a specific region in this area, highly tannophilic and which he conceived, observing at the resolution then possible, as a distinct organelle from the Golgi apparatus itself. In a time when the existence of the Golgi was still controversial, before the insight from electron microscopy, these results disclosed part of its structure as it became understood later. Salazar´s writings about the procedure of microscopic drawing are another expression of the methodological concern that seems to pervade his research work. Building upon published texts and archival sources, my analysis follows previous work (Author, 2019) and takes into consideration the role of visual representations as evidence of scientific claims (Cambrosio et al., 2008). In this sense, it attempts an integrated account of those two different aspects of representation in Abel Salazar’s research work. I will argue that staining and drawing are closely linked tools in his work, both present at the level of knowledge production.

 

References:

Author (2019)
Cambrosio, A., Jacobi, D. & Keating, P. (2008) Phages, antibodies and demonstration. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 30: 131-57.

 

Keywords: visual representations, dynamics of science, history of biology


Biography
Maria Strecht Almeida holds a PhD in Sociology (Sociology of Culture, Knowledge and Communication) by the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra and a degree in Biochemistry by the University of Porto (U.Porto). Currently, is Assistant Professor at the Molecular Biology Department of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS) of U.Porto. At ICBAS, teaches both basic and laboratory biophysics and science and society. Her current research interests focus on the dynamics of the life and health sciences as well as on research ethics and/or research integrity. MSA has been actively involved in organizing science outreach events, most of which emphasizing discipline crossovers. Presently, coordinates the Communications and Image Office of ICBAS. Was co-coordinator of the thematic section Knowledge, Science and Technology of the Portuguese Sociological Association, in 2018-2022.