Nuclear transplantation experiments in mice, reviewed elsewhere in this Symposium, have clearly demonstrated that the maternal and paternal genomes from which the embryo is formed are not functionally equivalent. The paternal genome appears to be essential for the normal development of extraembryonic tissues and the maternal genome for some stage of embryonic development. These findings provide some explanation for the observations that in mammals diploid parthenotes possessing two maternal genomes fail to survive (Markert, 1982) and that, in man, embryos with two paternal chromosome sets are inviable, forming hydatidiform moles (Kajii & Ohama, 1977). It has been proposed that a specific ‘imprinting’ of the paternal genomes occurs during gametogenesis so that the presence of both a female and male pronculeus is essential in an egg for full-term development (Barton, Surani & Norris, 1984; McGrath & Solter, 1984a; Surani, Barton & Norris, 1984)....
History of our journals
As our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 years old, read about Development’s journey and highlights from some its first issues, and explore the history of each of our sister journals: Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open.
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.
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