In Drosophila, the establishment of the anteroposterior (AP) axis occurs during oogenesis and is determined by the localisation of bicoid and oskar mRNA to the anterior and posterior of the oocyte, respectively, via microtubule cytoskeleton polarisation. To uncover additional genes involved in this process, Martin et al. performed an elegant genetic screen that, unlike previous genetic screens of AP axis determination,permits the recovery of lethal mutations (see p. 4201). By identifying, in living oocytes, chemical-induced mutations that disrupt the localisation of GFPStaufen in germline clones (because Staufen binds to both bicoid and oskar mRNA, GFP-Staufen is a marker for both poles of the oocyte at different developmental times), Martin et al. discovered 23 new complementation groups on chromosome 3R that disrupt AP axis formation. As a forerunner of what their results could eventually reveal about AP axis formation, the authors' characterisation of several mutations reported here indicate their...
Interviews with Biologists @ 100 conference speakers
Explore our interviews with keynote speakers from the Biologists @ 100 conference, hosted to celebrate our publisher’s 100th anniversary, where we discuss climate change and biodiversity with Hans-Otto Pörtner and Jane Francis, health and disease with Charles Swanton and emerging technologies with Manu Prakash and Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology
In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
How to build a community site for developmental biologists
Our community site, the Node, has been serving the developmental and stem cell biology community for 15 years. In this post, our Community Manager, Joyce Yu, shares how the Node was born and describes how to build a community site from scratch.
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