Uncoupling growth from the cell cycle

How does a Drosophila wing grow to the appropriate size and shape? Although a collaboration of cell division with the patterning of cell fates seems obvious, almost nothing is known about how these two processes are coordinated during development. A recent paper 1 finds that blocking cell division uncouples cell growth from the cell division cycle, displaying remarkable flexibility in the ability of the wing primordia to achieve the right proportions with fewer than normal cells. BioEssays 20: 283‐286, 1998.© 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.