Embryonic development, the rise of a complex multicellular organism from a single fertilized egg, is a fascinating process that is still poorly understood. How is it possible for cells, all originating from the same egg, to develop into a variety of highly specialized structures, such as muscles, skin, brain and limbs? What organizes cell dynamics, and how can the information encoded in the DNA account for the observed developmental processes? The complex cell rearrangements and tissue dynamics taking place during embryogenesis have to be robust against environmental changes, suggesting that...