eLife is pleased to present a Special Issue to highlight recent advances in the mechanistic understanding of microbiome function.

Investigating reproducibility in preclinical cancer research.

The study of science itself is a growing field of research.

The nearly complete architecture of the gigantic 90S precursor of small ribosomal subunit is determined by cryo-EM.

Structure specific nucleases that act in DNA replication, repair and recombination actively mold their DNA while transforming their own structure to achieve precise cleavage of their cognate DNA and avoid the deleterious cleavage of noncognate DNA.

The host-derived factors, pp32 and APRIL, interact with influenza viral RNA polymerase to support viral genomic RNA synthesis from complementary RNA.

A combination of genetic and molecular assays revealed that transcription factor Tfcp2l1 provides the basis for cell patterning and physiologic coordination in kidney collecting ducts.

Selfish wtf meiotic drive genes use overlapping transcripts to encode both a trans-acting poison to kill gametes that do not inherit the gene and a gamete-autonomous antidote to specifically rescue the gametes that do.

By moving between DNA segments like a child swinging on monkey bars, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 explores possible DNA damage sites more effectively.