LIFE SCIENCES

BY BERNARD DIXON
European Editorial Offices
The Scientist
Uxbridge, U.K.

" After mearly a century of speculation by embryologists, elegant genetic trickery in Tubigen has produced a stunning example of morphogenetic gradients at work. A protein coded by the bed gene in fruit flies behaves as a morphogen that directs the position of cells in the embryo’s anterior.

W. Driever, C. Nusslein-Volhard, “A gradient of the bicoid protein in Drosophiia embryos,” Cell, 54 (1), 83-93, 1 July 1988.

W. Driever, C. Nusslein-Volbard, “The bicoid protein determines position in the Drosophila embryo in a concentrationdependent manner,” Cell, 54 (1), 95-104, 1 July 1988.

" A study of over 13,000 infants in metropolitan Atlanta, conducted between 1970 and 1984 and taking account of unique features not covered by previous surveys, indicates that measurement of abnormally slow growth in utero may aid the detection of developmental defects. The study also provides...

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