The very earliest stages of development involve maternally supplied materials before the zygotic programs begin. Maternal-effect genes are transcribed in the mother and their mRNA influences development of oocytes and embryos. Here, I will introduce the paper describing the characterization of the anterior determinant gene bicoid (bcd) of Drosophila and discuss what kind of new research areas has led to. In particular, this lecture will focus on thinking about what kind of research you would do next from the published data.