In 1939, embryologist E.E. Just published The Biology of the Cell Surface, and pioneered ideas about the importance of nuclear – cytoplasmic interaction. Known for his study of the structural changes that occur at the egg cell surface during fertilization, Just also was the first to discover that the adhesiveness of the cells of the early embryo are exquisitely dependent on cell surface properties.

In the 1930s Just put forth a bold hypothesis involving nuclear–cytoplasmic interaction to explain how the cells of the early-stage embryo participate in the developmental process. His hypothesis, which he called the “theory of genetic restriction,” clashed with the gene theory that was then becoming dominant. I believe that Just’s theory—his model of the developing cell—represents a microcosm of his vision of the perfect society, which, in turn, was strongly influenced by sociological concepts circulating within the African American intellectual community at the time.

Just was a professor at Howard University in Washington, DC. He performed research in the first part of his career at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole and later in Europe. He authored more than 70 scientific papers as well as two books, both published in 1939.