Alfonso Luis Herrera (1868–1942) was a Mexican biologist, author, educator and founder of several institutions in Mexico City. He conducted research into the origin of life in an attempt to develop a new, experimental science which he called plasmogeny.[1][2]
He developed an experimental science called plasmogeny, concerned with the origin of protoplasm, the living material of which all animals and plants are made. He reasoned that since life was the result of purely physico-chemical phenomena, it should be possible to create a structure with similar properties to natural protoplasm out of relatively simple organic and inorganic compounds in the laboratory. To this end he conducted experiments to create artificial cells ("protocells") using substances such as olive oil, sodium hydroxide, gasoline, and thiocyanate.
He published his ideas in books such as Recueil des lois de la biologie générale ("Collection of the General Laws of Biology", in French) in 1897 and Nociones de biología in 1904 which was reprinted in 1924 as Biología y plasmogenia ("Biology and Plasmogeny"). His ideas on plasmogeny were further elaborated in Una nueva ciencia – la plasmogenia ("A New Science – Plasmogeny", 1924) and a shorter version followed in 1932, La plasmogenia – nueva ciencia del origen de la vida ("Plasmogeny – The New Science of the Origin of Life"). His experiments were published in two scientific journals which he founded: Gaceta de Plasmogenia (in Spanish) and Bulletin du Laboratoire de Plasmogenie (in French). He also wrote a number of other scientific texts.
Several of his books have now appeared in English translation.[4]
^Herrera, A.L. (1898). Ornitología mexicana México: Impr. de I. Escalante. (in Spanish).
^Cleaves II HJ, Lazcano A, Ledesma Mateos I, Negrón-Mendoza A, Peretó J, Silva E (2014). Herrera's 'Plasmogenia' and Other Collected Works: Early Writings on the Experimental Study of the Origin of Life. Springer. ISBN978-1493907366.
Herrera, Alfonso L. (1897). Recueil des lois de la biologie générale (Collection of the General Laws of Biology"). (in French).
Herrera, Alfonso L. (1924). Biologia y plasmogenia" (Biology and Plasmogeny). (in Spanish).
Negrón-Mendoza, A. (1995). "Alfonso L. Herrera: A Mexican pioneer in the study of chemical evolution". Journal of Biological Physics. 20 (1–4): 11–15. doi:10.1007/BF00700417. S2CID91627918.
Ledesma-Mateos, Ismael; Barahona, Ana (2003). "The Institutionalization of Biology in Mexico in the Early 20th Century. The Conflict between Alfonso Luis Herrera (1868–1942) and Isaac Ochoterena (1885–1950)". Journal of the History of Biology. 36 (2): 285–307. doi:10.1023/A:1024443517547. PMID12940292. S2CID26503234.
