The mechanisms that underlie the formation of the left-right embryonic
axis in vertebrates are not known, The programmed pattern of cell-typ
e change in fission yeast results from the inheritance of specific chr
omatids of the parental chromosome. Here, I address how such a model m
ay explain left-right specification of the viscera in mice. The model
proposes that DNA replication produces different chromatids, and that
these specific chromatins of both homologs are nonrandomly segregated
to daughter cells to specify the left-right axis of the embryo. Such a
model presents a simple explanation of the interesting phenotype of t
he newly discovered insertional mutation inv in mice, which causes rev
ersal of the left-right axis, proposing that it is caused by a chromos
omal inversion.