Follow the mRNA: a new model for Bicoid gradient formation

Morphogens are molecules that specify cell fate in a concentration-dependent manner. A classic example is the Bicoid (BCD) protein, for which the prevailing model is that translation of bcd mRNA occurs from a point source at the anterior pole of the Drosophila melanogaster embryo followed by diffusion to produce a protein gradient. This model has been challenged by experiments showing that the diffusion rate of BCD is too slow to establish the protein gradient. The work described in a recent paper has solved this conundrum by demonstrating that a bcd mRNA gradient prefigures the BCD protein gradient.