Turing pattern

Summary

A Turing pattern is a stationary, spatially periodic pattern that forms in a reaction–diffusion system from an instability caused by diffusion. Alan Turing described the mechanism in 1952 in "The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis". The surprise is that diffusion, which usually smooths out differences, can destabilise a uniform state when two substances diffuse at different rates. Turing patterns are proposed as explanations of spots and stripes in animal coats and other biological patterns.