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| Modern Genetic Analysis Chapter 16. The Genetic Basis of Development Central Themes of Developmental Genetics Figure 16-1. Decision making in developmental pathways. In developmental pathways, cells have to achieve different roles through a series of binary (onoff) decisions. Conditions within the cell allow a master switch to be regulated. When the master switch is activated, it sets in motion a cascade of "downstream" regulatory events that eventually lead the cell down a new developmental pathway. In the absence of the activation of the master switch, a set of default signals remain in place and maintain the cell in the default pathway.

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