●Simple rules shape petals. Desplan, C. & Lecuit, T. Nature 13 March (2003). In this News and Views article, the authors discuss the work of Rolland-Lagan et al ., also published in this issue, which shows the growth rules that underlie the complex shape of snapdragon petals. The cell-lineage analysis used, and the computer models developed, could be applied to studies into the generation of shape in other animal and plant tissues. Image courtesy of Enrico Coen and Anne-Gaelle Rolland-Lagan, John Innes Centre, UK.

●Insight into proteomics.Nature 13 March (2003) A collection of articles that reflect the recent progress in proteomics, and the future developments that are needed to understand how proteins function in cells.

●The power and the promise of DNA methylation markers. Laird, P. W. Nature Reviews Cancer April (2003) This Review assesses the potential of using DNA methylation markers as clinical tools, and is part of a special focus issue on the early detection of cancer.

●Connecting the dots. Packer, A. Nature Genetics March (2003) Genes with random mono-allelic expression show asynchronous replication in S phase. This News and Views piece accompanies an article in the same issue and discusses the findings that indicate that asynchronous replication is coordinated within chromosome pairs..

●Immune functions encoded by the natural killer gene complex. Yokoyama, W. M. & Plougastel, B. F. M. Nature Reviews Immunology April (2003) The authors of this Review describe the properties of receptors that are encoded in the NK-gene complex and provide a genomic and conceptual framework that gives an insight into NK-cell function and biology..

●A ten-year retrospective (1992–2002).Nature Genetics March (2003) To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Nature Genetics has a special supplement that reviews the scientific advances of the last 10 years — and provides some insights into what lies ahead.

●Histone acetylation and deacetylation in yeast. Kurdistani, S. K. & Grunstein, M. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology April (2003) In this Review, the wide range of functions of histone acetylases and deacetylases are described.

●Patterning cell types in the dorsal spinal cord: what the mouse mutants say. Caspary, T. & Anderson, K. V. Nature Reviews Neuroscience April (2003) The authors of this Review describe loss-of-function mouse analyses that provide insights into the genes that direct neural cell fate.

●Encoding technical information in GM organisms. Marillonnet, S. et al. Nature Biotechnology March (2003) In this Commentary, the authors propose a standardized tagging system for tracking transgenes in genetically modified organisms.