Morphogenetic gradients determine cell identity during development through the concentration-dependent activation of target genes, but how the precision of the response to morphogens is determined is unclear. On p. 2795, Nathalie Dostatni and co-workers provide new insights into this developmental puzzle by examining the transcriptional response to Bicoid in Drosophila embryos. The Bicoid gradient is established in Drosophila embryos after eight nuclear divisions (cycle 9) and target protein expression is specified by cycle 14 with a precision that corresponds to a 10% Bicoid concentration difference. To understand how this precision is achieved, the researchers analyze nascent transcripts of the Bicoid target gene hunchback. They report that hunchback is already transcribed from both alleles in most anterior nuclei in cycle 11 interphasic embryos. This synchronous expression is specified within a 10% difference of Bicoid, a precision that is compatible with the fast mobility of Bicoid in the nucleus measured using fluorescent correlation spectroscopy. Finally and importantly, genetic experiments reveal that maternal Hunchback contributes to the early synchrony of the Bicoid response.