Virchow: every cell from a cell, and disease as the life of cells under altered conditions
The proposition that every cell comes only from another cell (omnis cellula e cellula), and that disease is neither a corruption of humours nor a disorder of the nerves but the altered life of cells, which can be seen under the microscope.
The proposition was proclaimed in 1855 by the German Rudolf Virchow, who carried cell theory from anatomy into medicine. The conclusion about division was not new; Remak had printed it three years earlier, and Virchow, in Lagunoff's words, did not mention him in 1855 and acknowledged him only grudgingly in 1858.
But it was in Virchow's mouth, backed by his chair, his journal and his institute, that the proposition became generally accepted, and cellular pathology, in Risse's assessment, demolished what was left of humoral and neural pathology and placed the field on its modern basis.
Why this date
The axis year is 1855: the paper 'Cellular-Pathologie' in Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin, 8 (1855), 3-39 (April 1855 issue, according to the publisher's record on Springer Link), where it is proclaimed that cells arise only from cells. The upper bound of the label is the book 'Die Cellularpathologie in ihrer Begründung auf physiologische und pathologische Gewebelehre' (Berlin, 1858), twenty lectures delivered at the Pathological Institute in Berlin between February and April 1858 (Risse, DSB).
What it grew from
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Schleiden and Schwann: the cell as the common unit of structure and growth in plants and animals
improved · Confidence: high
Florkin, following Ackerknecht, describes the theory of Remak and Virchow as the fourth cell theory, whose first part repeats Schwann (the organism consists of cells, the cell bears all the properties of life) and whose second part, omnis cellula e cellula, cancels his error about the blastema. Virchow carried this corrected theory into pathology.
Link sources
- Marcel Florkin, «Schwann, Theodor Ambrose Hubert», Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (2008) Verified 20 Sep 2026
Ackerknecht’s fourth cell theory, which remians current, is that of Remak and Virchow, the first part of which follows Schwann in acknowledging the cellular composition of organisms, with the cell as the vital element, the bearer of all the characteristics of life. The second part of this theory, expressed in the dictum “omnis cellula e cellula,” contradicts Schwann’s erroneous belief in the formation of cells within a “blastema.”
- William Bechtel, Andrew Bollhagen, Philosophy of Cell Biology, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2019) Verified 20 Sep 2026
In any case, Schleiden's and Schwann's accounts of cell formation were soon set aside as more researchers reported on cell division and Schwann's concerns with mechanism were supplanted by other concerns. Virchow (1855), a pathologist, offered a theoretic argument that only a process like cell division could explain the transmission of disease and coined the oft-cited dictum "omnis cellula e cellula" (all cells come from cells).
- David Lagunoff, A Polish, Jewish Scientist in 19th-Century Prussia, Science 298 (5602), 2331 (2002)
Virchow, widely recognized then and now as the foremost proponent of cell division, commenced his conversion from Schwann's doctrine in 1850 but apparently remained ambivalent as late as 1854, particularly in regard to tumor growth.
"Verified" means that on that day the quotation was found at the address given, word for word. No date means we have not been able to open the source yet, not that the quotation is wrong.
- Marcel Florkin, «Schwann, Theodor Ambrose Hubert», Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (2008) Verified 20 Sep 2026
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Remak: animal cells arise by division that begins with the nucleus
influenced · Confidence: high
The conclusion that new cells arise only by division of existing ones was printed by Remak in 1852; it won general acceptance when Virchow proclaimed it in 1855. Lagunoff writes that Virchow did not mention Remak at the time and acknowledged his evidence only three years later.
Dispute: A dispute about priority and borrowing. Lagunoff speaks of Virchow's failure to acknowledge Remak in 1855 and his grudging acknowledgement in 1858; Kearl writes that the idea was not original and that Remak's publication went largely unnoticed; Goschler (New DSB) notes that Virchow was effective in squeezing academic rivals such as Remak out of the market. None of these sources states outright that Virchow took the conclusion from Remak's paper, hence the kind is "influenced" rather than "improved": Virchow came to division by his own route (according to Lagunoff, he began to move away from Schwann in 1850), but the shared setting and Remak's priority are recorded by historians.
Link sources
- David Lagunoff, A Polish, Jewish Scientist in 19th-Century Prussia, Science 298 (5602), 2331 (2002)
Yet, his evidence and arguments for the division of animal cells were poorly received, and animal cell division failed to achieve general acceptance until it was forcefully promulgated by Rudolf Virchow.
- David Lagunoff, A Polish, Jewish Scientist in 19th-Century Prussia, Science 298 (5602), 2331 (2002)
When he finally issued his resounding pronouncement in favor of cell division in 1855, he did not acknowledge the contributions of Remak (9). Three years later, Virchow grudgingly acknowledged Remak's evidence for cell division in the ovum (10).
- Megan Kearl, Rudolf Carl Virchow (1821-1902), Embryo Project Encyclopedia, Arizona State University (2012) Verified 20 Sep 2026
The idea that new cells arose from pre-existing cells in both diseased and healthy tissue was not original. Robert Remak, a neuroscientist, had already come to this conclusion in 1852, though his publication went largely unnoticed.
- Marcel Florkin, «Schwann, Theodor Ambrose Hubert», Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (2008) Verified 20 Sep 2026
Ackerknecht’s fourth cell theory, which remians current, is that of Remak and Virchow, the first part of which follows Schwann in acknowledging the cellular composition of organisms, with the cell as the vital element, the bearer of all the characteristics of life.
"Verified" means that on that day the quotation was found at the address given, word for word. No date means we have not been able to open the source yet, not that the quotation is wrong.
- David Lagunoff, A Polish, Jewish Scientist in 19th-Century Prussia, Science 298 (5602), 2331 (2002)
Node sources
- Guenter B. Risse, «Virchow, Rudolf Carl», Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (2008) Verified 5 Oct 2026
Hence, the cell became the fundamental living unit in both health and disease-a biological rather than a mechanical entity. Virchow's notion of cellular pathology implied that all the manifestations of disease could be reduced to disturbances of living cells. Moreover, according to Virchow's famous principle, "omnis cellula e cellula," all cells originated from other cells.
- Guenter B. Risse, «Virchow, Rudolf Carl», Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (2008) Verified 5 Oct 2026
Virchow's cellular pathology demolished the vestiges of humoral and neural physiopathology, and placed the field on its modern basis.
- Guenter B. Risse, «Virchow, Rudolf Carl», Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (2008) Verified 5 Oct 2026
Prominent among Virchow's publications were Die Cellularpathologie in ihrer Begründung auf physiologische und pathologische Gewebelehre (Berlin, 1858). representing 20 lectures that he delivered at the Pathological Institute in Berlin between February and April 1858.
- Rudolf Virchow, Cellular-Pathologie, Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin 8, 3-39 (1855) Verified 5 Oct 2026
Virchow, R. Cellular-Pathologie. Archiv f. pathol. Anat. 8, 3–39 (1855).
- Megan Kearl, Rudolf Carl Virchow (1821-1902), Embryo Project Encyclopedia, Arizona State University (2012) Verified 5 Oct 2026
In 1855, he further developed his ideas by publishing his famous aphorism omnis cellula e cellula which became a part of the foundation for cell theory.
- David Lagunoff, A Polish, Jewish Scientist in 19th-Century Prussia, Science 298 (5602), 2331 (2002)
When he finally issued his resounding pronouncement in favor of cell division in 1855, he did not acknowledge the contributions of Remak (9). Three years later, Virchow grudgingly acknowledged Remak's evidence for cell division in the ovum (10).
"Verified" means that on that day the quotation was found at the address given, word for word. No date means we have not been able to open the source yet, not that the quotation is wrong.