Developmental biology. Why chicks aren't all thumbs.
A new study on page 438 offers some surprising insights on when and how digits assume their distinctive shapes. Scientists had thought that even before cartilage cells begin to develop into a finger or toe, they already know what shape digit to make. The new findings, however, suggest that digit identity is programmed much later in development, by chemical messengers from the surrounding tissue.
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D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D002356:Cartilage / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology; D002642:Chick Embryo; D005121:Extremities / Q000196:embryology*; D005528:Foot / Q000196:embryology*; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000196:embryology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014034:Toes / Q000196:embryology
D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins