A remarkable feature of organism development is the ability of patterning mechanisms to reliably produce consistent proportions between individuals that vary greatly in size.

The preservation of proportion or 'scale-invariance' is manifest in numerous different biological contexts and increasing evidence about morphogen-mediated patterning suggests that scale invariance must be occurring dynamically as well as at equilibrium.

Here, mathematical analysis suggests that dynamic scale invariance may originate from a very simple process: extracellular transport of a morphogen, reversible binding and endocytosis/decay.

Specifically, dynamic scale-invariance requires conservation on the total number of binding sites, total morphogen production, and a high receptor density.

Journal of the Royal Society Interface

Journal of the Royal Society Interface
is the Society's cross-disciplinary publication promoting research at the interface between the physical and life sciences. It offers rapidity, visibility and high-quality peer review and is ranked fifth in JCR's multidisciplinary category. The journal also incorporates Interface Focus, a peer-reviewed, themed supplement, each issue of which concentrates on a specific cross-disciplinary subject.

Journal of the Royal Society Interface