ABOVE: Cells differentiating into photoreceptors express the Embryonic Lethal Abnormal Vision (ELAV) RNA binding protein (blue) and the Eyes Absent (EYA) transcriptional activator (green).
ALISON SMITH AND JUSTIN P. KUMAR

Sac-like structures in insect larvae called imaginal discs eventually develop into parts of the body that are exposed to the external environment. “Imaginal discs have been used for more than a century to study tissue fate determination, pattern formation, growth control, planar cell polarity, tissue shape, and cell fate specification,” says Justin Kumar, a biologist at Indiana University Bloomington. His lab studies the discs and how they lead to the development of the retina in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

Chia-Yi Hou is an intern at The Scientist. Email her at chou@the-scientist.com.

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