Gene regulatory networks

Key question

How do cells make a body?

Check your understanding

Find an example, an application and a limit. Explain the concept without using its name, then compare your explanation with a primary source.

Claims to examine

• Anatomical patterning requires explanations across molecular, cellular and tissue scales.

  Editorial claim · contestedExamine the source →

Follow a learning route

• How do cells make a body?

  Connect reaction–diffusion, positional information, mechanics and bioelectric control of anatomical form.

Reading connections

• The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis

  Alan M. Turing

• Positional Information and the Spatial Pattern of Cellular Differentiation

  Lewis Wolpert

• Physical Biology of the Cell

  Rob Phillips et al.

• Molecular bioelectricity: how endogenous voltage potentials control cell behavior and instruct pattern regulation in vivo

  Michael Levin

• Endless Forms Most Beautiful

  Sean B. Carroll