Development. Hear, hear, for the inner ear

Abstract

Although the development of the inner ear has been a favorite subject for biologists to study, it is not yet clear exactly which molecules are involved in the induction of the otic placode, the plug of embryonic ectoderm that will become the inner ear. In his Perspective, Graham takes us on an inner ear odyssey, explaining how the signaling molecules FGF-19 and Wnt-8c cooperate to induce formation of the otic placode (Ladher et al.).