Editor's Summary

13 January 2005

How complex is 'complex'?

The programs that control development in the embryos of multicellular animals are thought to be complex. But what does that mean? Can that complexity be quantified? Azevedo et al. have addressed this question based on the similarity between developmental and computer programs. Looking at the embryologies of animals such as roundworms whose cell lineages can be precisely determined, they find the course of development less complex than one would expect by chance. In fact, given the necessity of placing precise numbers of cells in particular positions in developing embryos, these cell lineages could not be much simpler than they are. Evolution has selected for decreased complexity.

Letter: The simplicity of metazoan cell lineages

Ricardo B. R. Azevedo, Rolf Lohaus, Volker Braun, Markus Gumbel, Muralikrishna Umamaheshwar, Paul-Michael Agapow, Wouter Houthoofd, Ute Platzer, Gaëtan Borgonie, Hans-Peter Meinzer and Armand M. Leroi

doi:10.1038/nature03178

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