In [[developmental biology]], pattern formation refers to the generation of complex organizations of [[cell fate determination|cell fates]] in space and time. Pattern formation is controlled by [[gene]]s. The role of genes in pattern formation is an aspect of [[morphogenesis]], the creation of diverse [[anatomy|anatomies]] from similar genes, now being explored in the science of [[evolutionary developmental biology]] or evo-devo. The mechanisms involved are well seen in the anterior-posterior patterning of [[embryo]]s from the [[model organism]] ''[[Drosophila melanogaster]]'' (a fruit fly), one of the first organisms to have its morphogenesis studied and in the [[eyespot (mimicry)|eyespots]] of butterflies, whose development is a variant of the standard (fruit fly) mechanism. | In [[developmental biology]], pattern formation refers to the generation of complex organizations of [[cell fate determination|cell fates]] in space and time. Pattern formation is controlled by [[gene]]s. The role of genes in pattern formation is an aspect of [[morphogenesis]], the creation of diverse [[anatomy|anatomies]] from similar genes, now being explored in the science of [[evolutionary developmental biology]] or evo-devo. The mechanisms involved are well seen in the anterior-posterior patterning of [[embryo]]s from the [[model organism]] ''[[Drosophila melanogaster]]'' (a fruit fly), one of the first organisms to have its morphogenesis studied and in the [[eyespot (mimicry)|eyespots]] of butterflies, whose development is a variant of the standard (fruit fly) mechanism. |