Early embryonic differentiation and body axis formation are the most critical events in embryonicdevelopment, and serve as a basis for the formation of the body plan of the future organism. The inductivecenter, the Spemann organizer (the 100th anniversary of its discovery was celebrated by the scientific communityin 2024) regulates the early stages of embryogenesis through mechanisms mediated by intercellularinteractions. The classical model of neural induction in vertebrates, developed primarily through studies ofamphibians, assumes that organizer cells express antagonists of BMP signaling (such as Noggin, Follistatin,and Chordin proteins), thereby determining neural differentiation and inducing body axis formation. Organizercenters have also been identified in representatives of other vertebrate classes, although their full functionalequivalence to the classical organizer remains a subject of debate. In the context of studying the fundamentalmechanisms of embryonic induction in vertebrates, investigations of extant representatives of evolutionarilyancient groups, such as cyclostomes (lampreys and hagfishes), are of particular interest. Our studieshave shown that well-known vertebrate embryonic inducers such as noggin genes do not induce the formationof secondary body axes in lampreys. Moreover, genomic and transcriptomic analyses have revealed theabsence of the chordin gene (one of key embryonic inducers) in lampreys, a unique situation among vertebrates.These results suggest that the mechanisms of neural induction in lampreys may differ from the classicalmodel described for amphibians. At the same time, our transcriptomic data analysis has confirmed theactivity of key signaling pathways in lampreys (Wnt, Nodal/Activin, and BMP), which are involved in embryonicdifferentiation in other vertebrates. These findings together show that, while the genetic foundation ofembryonic development may be conserved, the details of embryonic induction mechanisms can exhibit plasticityand variability across different evolutionary lineages.