Bicoid Morphogen Gradient
Diffusion–degradation model of positional information in Drosophila embryo
Model: ∂c/∂t = D∇²c − λc + J(x). Steady state: c(x) = (J₀/λ)·exp(−x/λ_D) where λ_D = √(D/λ).
Threshold crossings define gene expression boundaries (gap genes hb, kr, kni). Noise sensitivity ∝ 1/|dc/dx|.