Editorial highlights

Every organism is a model organism for understanding development, evolution, disease, and regeneration, and we have only begun to scratch the surface of the interdisciplinary genetic, molecular, cellular, and developmental mechanisms that regulate these biological processes.These "Highlights" denote exciting advances recently reported in Developmental Dynamics that illustrate the complex dynamics of developmental biology.Placental Influences on Craniofacial and Brain Development."A head start: The relationship of placental factors to craniofacial and brain development" by Annemarie Carver, Martine Dunnwald, and Hanna Stevens. 1 The placenta produces and helps deliver hormones, nutrients, and oxygen to offspring in utero.Its impact on neurodevelopment and neurodevelopmental disorders, known as neuroplacentology, is an emerging field of growing scientific and research interest.Neurodevelopment is also highly coordinated with craniofacial development, as is the co-occurrence of neurodevelopmental disorders and craniofacial disorders, which has led to the adage, "the face predicts the brain, and the brain predicts the face."This review discusses the role of placental hormone production and nutrient delivery during the development of the fetal head with a particular emphasis on hormones such as IGF1, GH, and PRL, nutrients such as calcium, sulfate, and vitamin D, and their respective signaling pathways.Further investigation into placental-specific mechanisms influencing the development of the fetal head offers the potential to better understand and possibly even prevent many common childhood health problems.Morphogenesis of the Neural Tube."An analysis of contractile and protrusive cell behaviors at the superficial surface of the zebrafish neural plate" by