Stop and Grow

You’re looking into the developing eye of a fruit fly (Drosophila). Just like our own organs, the eye takes shape in a series of careful stages. All of its tiny cells (outlined in blue) once raced to divide and grow, but the red-centred cells have stopped – they’ve differentiated [specialised] into building blocks for the eye. A balance between growth and differentiation normally helps organs to develop correctly, but inside this eye something is wrong. Genes controlling the developmental ‘traffic lights’ have been disrupted – some of the differentiated cells have begun to divide and grow once again (coloured green, in the centre). This unfortunate fruit fly has many genes in common with us, providing clues about how cells in human tissues sometimes return to a neoplastic [re-growing] state, bringing a risk of cancer as they divide out of control.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image by Pradip Sinha
• Indian Institute of Technology, India
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Research published in PNAS, June 2013