The chemical basis of morphogenesis

Turing’s paper explained how natural patterns such as stripes, spots and spirals, like those of the giant pufferfish, may arise naturally.

“The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis” is an article written by the English mathematician Alan Turing in 1952 describing the way in which natural patterns such as stripes, spots and spirals may arise naturally out of a homogeneous, uniform state.[1] The theory, which can be called a reaction–diffusion theory of morphogenesis, has served as a basic model in theoretical biology.

A. M. Turing

(Received 9 November 1951-Revised 15 March 1952)

http://www.dna.caltech.edu/courses/cs191/paperscs191/turing.pdf