Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 18, 2026

Three and Four-Dimensional Visualization and Analysis Approaches to Study Vertebrate Axial Elongation and Segmentation
Published on: February 28, 2021
Positional Information-A concept underpinning our understanding of developmental biology
1School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Abstract:
It is now 50 years since Lewis Wolpert published the paper in which he set out the concept of Positional Information to explain how spatial patterns of cellular differentiation are generated. This concept has provided a universal model for pattern formation in embryonic development and regeneration and become part of the fabric of the field of developmental biology. Here I outline how Wolpert devised the concept of Positional Information and describe landmark studies from his lab investigating how Positional Information is specified in the developing chick limb.
Related Concept Videos
Directional Terms
Determination
The Nativist Approach
Morphogenesis
Position-effect Variegation
Chromatin Position Affects Gene Expression
Topologically Associated Domains (TADs)
The 3-dimensional positioning of chromatin in the nucleus influences the...

