Embryonic development is a largely self-organizing process, in which the adult body plan arises from a ball of cells with initially nearly equal potency. The reaction-diffusion theory first proposed by Alan Turing states that the initial symmetry in embryos can be broken by the interplay between two diffusible molecules, whose interactions lead to the formation of patterns. The reaction-diffusion theory provides a valuable framework for self-organized pattern formation, but it has been difficult to relate simple two-component models to real biological systems with multiple interacting molecular species. Recent studies have addressed this shortcoming and extended the reaction-diffusion theory to realistic multi-component networks. These efforts have challenged the generality of previous central tenets derived from the analysis of simplified systems and guide the way to a new understanding of self-organizing processes. Here, we discuss the challenges in modeling multi-component reaction-diffusion systems and how these have recently been addressed. We present a synthesis of new pattern formation mechanisms derived from these analyses, and we highlight the significance of reaction-diffusion principles for developmental and synthetic pattern formation.

中文翻译：

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自组织反应扩散系统的模式形成机制。


胚胎发育在很大程度上是一个自组织过程，其中成人的身体规划是由最初具有几乎相同效力的细胞球产生的。艾伦·图灵首先提出的反应扩散理论指出，胚胎中的初始对称性可以通过两个可扩散分子之间的相互作用来打破，这两个分子的相互作用导致模式的形成。反应扩散理论为自组织模式的形成提供了一个有价值的框架，但很难将简单的二元模型与具有多个相互作用分子种类的真实生物系统联系起来。最近的研究解决了这个缺点，并将反应扩散理论扩展到现实的多组件网络。这些努力挑战了先前从简化系统分析中得出的中心原则的普遍性，并指导了对自组织过程的新理解。在这里，我们讨论多组分反应扩散系统建模面临的挑战以及最近如何解决这些挑战。我们提出了从这些分析中得出的新模式形成机制的综合，并强调了反应扩散原理对于发展和综合模式形成的重要性。