The
experimental demonstration of this phenomenon was provided by Driesch using sea
urchin embryos. Dividing cells of the embryo of sea urchins after the first
cell-division, he expected each cell to develop into the corresponding half of
the animal for which it had been designed or preprogramed, but instead he found
that each developed into a complete sea urchin. This also happened at the
four-cell stage: entire larvae ensued from each of the four cells, albeit
smaller than usual. It is possible to remove large pieces from eggs, shuffle
the blastomeres and interfere in many ways without affecting the resulting
embryo. It appears that any single monad in the original egg cell is capable of
forming any part of the completed embryo. Conversely, when merging two young
embryos, a single sea urchin results, and not two sea urchins.
The Vital Needs Theory - page 64