Unlocking mechanisms of development through advances in tools

Abstract

This perspective describes how our understanding of sea urchin development has been enabled by advances in technology. The early conceptual discoveries that put the sea urchin embryo on the research map had to wait until technologies were available to explain how those concepts worked. The explanatory phase continues as a number of mechanisms continue to be understood in ever greater detail, all made possible by further technical advances.

Keywords: Molecular methods; Morphogenesis; Sea urchin; Specification.