Co-authored the Science paper 'Determination of anteroposterior polarity in Drosophila,' clarifying head-to-tail axis formation mechanisms.
On 18 December 1987, Nüsslein-Volhard co-authored a paper in the journal Science entitled "Determination of anteroposterior polarity in Drosophila." This work synthesized and extended findings on how the head-to-tail (anteroposterior) axis of the fruit fly embryo is established through interactions between maternally supplied gene products localized at opposite ends of the egg.
The paper helped clarify the genetic and molecular logic by which positional information is set up before the embryo begins to divide into segments, integrating earlier findings on genes such as bicoid, nanos, and hunchback into a coherent model of axis specification. It represented an important synthesis moment in her research program, coming at the height of her work at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen.
This publication, appearing in one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals, further cemented the international recognition of the Nüsslein-Volhard laboratory as the leading center for elucidating the genetic control of pattern formation. It laid essential conceptual groundwork for the following year's landmark discovery — published with Wolfgang Driever — that the Bicoid protein itself functions as a graded morphogen, directly determining position within the embryo.