HHMI Bulletin | Spring 2004

When it comes to getting a start in this world, flies don’t dillydally. After fertilization, a one-celled egg in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) takes but three hours to develop into a hollow oval containing some 8,000 cells. Ten minutes later, sheets of cells from the edge of the sphere stream into the center, establishing what will become Drosophila’s internal tissues and organs. In less than a day, the tiny fly larva works its way out from its eggshell. read in full issue (pdf)