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Meeting Report

Nature Cell Biology 4, E259–E262 (1 November 2002) | doi:10.1038/ncb1102-e259

Hopeful monsters and morphogens at the beach

Lee Niswander & Kathryn V. Anderson

The Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Conference (August 15–19, 2002) provided the latest insights into how a single cell is transformed into a complex organism. Organisms that flower, slither, walk and fly continue to provide new insights into the cell biological and molecular mechanisms that control cell movement, signalling pathways and post-transcriptional regulation; hopeful monsters sit at our doorstep to provide new insight into evolutionary change and human disease.