Fruit fly embryo
Amelia Hartenstein
Transcription factors are proteins that turn genes on or off by binding to nearby DNA. In this image of a developing fruit fly embryo, a transcription factor called Ventral nerve cord defective, or Vnd, which controls cell growth, is seen in red. The adhesion molecule, N-cadherin, required for the formation of precise patterns of connections in the brain, is seen in blue. The expression of another adhesion molecule, Neurotactin, which is involved in the process by which cells interact, is seen in green. This image is part of a project to characterize the expression patterns of more than 120 transcription factors that play a role in the development of the cells that make up the fruit fly nervous system.