In most vertebrate species, the body axis is generated by the formation of repeated transient structures called somites. This spatial periodicity in somitogenesis has been related to the genetic network oscillations in certain mRNAs and their associated gene products in the cells forming the presomitic mesoderm. The current molecular view of the mechanism underlying these oscillations involves negative-feedback regulation at transcriptional and translational levels. The spatially periodic

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... of somite formation suggests that the genetic network involved must display intracellular oscillations that interact with a longitudinal positional information gradient, called determination front, down the axis of vertebrate embryos to create this spatial patterning. Here, we consider a simple model for diploid cells based on this current biological picture considering gene regulation as a noisy process relevant in a real developmental situation and study its consequences for somitogenesis. Comparison is made with the known properties of somite formation in the zebrafish embryo.