A chromatin boundary factor that is only active during early embryo development has been discovered in Drosophila.

Preventing premature interactions between microtubules and protein-based structures called kinetochores ensures that chromosomes are segregated by meiosis rather than mitosis in reproductive cells.

The HITS-CLIP sequencing method is used to demonstrate that cryptic exons can detect messenger RNA that contains nonsense mutations, and then cause this RNA to decay, which shows that these exons are involved in maintaining the electrical balance of neurons and, possibly, preventing epilepsy.

A sudden fall in the levels of the coenzyme NADPH within cells could have a central role in the process of aging.

Long-lived intermediate states formed by glycoprotein catalysts are an essential part of the process used by influenza virus particles to infect cells.

The Notch signaling pathway has a central role in the formation of the circuit that controls egg-laying in the nematode worm C. elegans.

Sensory neurons in the olfactory system develop from two different regions of the ectoderm, the olfactory placode and the cranial neural crest, whereas sensory neurons within the eye and ear develop from just one region.

The circadian clock in the model plant organism Arabidopsis thaliana is best described as a highly connected network made up of clock-regulated activators and repressors of transcription, rather than two coupled, repressor-based feedback loops.

Detailed analysis of umbilical cord cells shows that the associations between DNA methylation, gene expression and genetic variation are complex and context-dependent.