Abstract
What is common between the French flag and a developing embryo? Both exhibit specific patterns. In vast majority of multicellular organisms, a single-celled zygote forms a multicellular organism through embryonic development. During this development, the cells arising from a single-celled zygote differentiate to form different types of cells, different organs, tissues, and structures, eventually forming a complex multicellular organism. How do the cells ‘know’ what structures to form, where to form them and when to form them? Wolpert’s French flag model explains one of the ways by which the cells know some of these ‘answers’ by obtaining their position along a chemical gradient in the embryo. The French flag model is applicable to many developmental processes in many organisms and also in the process of regeneration, making the model one of the significant contributions in biology.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Suggested Reading
L Wolpert, C Tickle, A M Arias, P Lawrence, A Lumsden, E Robertson, E Meyerowitz and J Smith, Principles of Development, Oxford University Press, 5th International Edition, 2015.
L Wolpert, The mechanics and mechanism of cleavage, Int. Rev. Cytol., 10, pp.163–216, 1960.
L Wolpert, The mechanical properties of the membrane of the sea urchin egg during cleavage, Exp. Cell Res., Vol.41, pp.385–396, 1966.
M Richardson, Diffusible gradients are out: An interview with Lewis Wolpert, Int. J. Dev. Biol., 53: pp.659–662, 2009. doi: https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.072559mr.
J C Smith, Lewis Wolpert (1929–2021), Development, 148(7): dev199618, 1 April 2021. doi:https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.199618
H Driesch, The Science and Philosophy of the Organism, Black, London, England, 1908.
S Ghaskadbi, Hydra: A powerful biological model, Resonance, Vol.25, No.9, pp.1197–1213, 2020 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-020-1039-2
L Wolpert, J Hicklin, A Hornbruch, Positional information and pattern regulation in regeneration of hydra, Symp. Soc. Exp. Biol., Vol.25, pp.391–415, 1971.
L Wolpert, L, The French flag problem: A contribution to the discussion on pattern development and regulation. In: Waddington, C.H. (Ed.), Towards a Theoretical Biology, Edinburgh University Press, pp.125–133, 1968.
L Wolpert Positional information and the spatial pattern of cellular differentiation, J. Theor. Biol., 25, pp.1–47, 1969. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5193(69)80016-0.
C Vicente, An interview with Lewis Wolpert, Development, 142, pp.2547–2548, 2015. doi:https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.127373.
N Vargesson N, Lewis Wolpert (1929–2021), Cells Dev., 166:203673, June 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdev.2021.203673
J B A Green, J Sharpe, Positional information and reaction-diffusion: two big ideas in developmental biology combine, Development, Vol.142, pp.1203–1211, 2015. doi:https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.114991.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Sujata Deshpande did her PhD in animal behaviour from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. She received a JSPS (Japanese Society for Promotion of Science) postdoctoral fellowship and worked in the field of plant animal interaction. At present she is Assistant Professor at the Department of Zoology, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. She is interested in animal behaviour, ecology, evolution and astrobiology.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Deshpande, S. A Simple Idea to Understand Complexity. Reson 27, 2033–2044 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-022-1504-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-022-1504-1