Oken maintained that all organic beings originate from, and consist of, cells, and that organisms are produced by an agglomeration of these cells.

Oken’s vertebral theory of the skull.

Lorenz Oken, a leading light in the Nature-Philosophical School in Germany, produced important work in the field of biology. He founded the journal Isis, which published articles of great value; its incursion into the field of German politics led to a demand for the resignation of Oken from his professorship or the suppression of his journal. Oken resigned and continued to publish Isis.