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Nature 448, 420-421 (26 July 2007) | doi:10.1038/448420a; Published online 25 July 2007

Developmental biology: A ten per cent solution

John Reinitz1

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In early embryos, a concentration gradient of the Bicoid protein affects pattern formation. Studies of living embryos reveal a surprising level of accuracy in the Bicoid gradient. But is it accurate enough?

A central idea in developmental biology is Lewis Wolpert's theory of positional information1. This states that a substance present in a concentration gradient induces different developmental fates in cells when present at different concentrations.