Genomics taken to the extreme. Liebl, W. Nature Biotechnology May (2004). This News and Views author considers how the availability of the genome sequence of Thermus thermophilus could provide new insights into heat-tolerant enzymes and metabolic pathways of biotechnological potential.

Gene regulation by riboswitches. Mandal, M. & Breaker, R. R. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology June (2004) These authors review riboswitches (folded sequences in the non-coding portions of some mRNAs), which bring about changes in transcription termination or translation initiation in response to metabolite binding.

The Icelandic Cancer Project — a population-wide approach to studying cancer. Rafnar, T. et al. Nature Reviews Cancer June (2004) A Perspective on the project to build a population-based clinical genomics database and biobank for the study of cancer — from genetic predisposition to clinical outcome.

Different strategies for midline formation in bilaterians. Meinhardt, H. Nature Reviews Neuroscience June (2004) This author discusses midline formation and concludes that it had a crucial role in the diversification of higher organisms.

Dimerization of retroviral RNA genomes: an inseparable pair. Paillart, J. -C., Shehu-Xhilaga, M., Marquet, R. & Mak, J. Nature Reviews Microbiology June (2004)

Human genetics: an inflammatory issue. Tracey, K. J. & Warren, H. S. Nature 6 May (2004) A new study shows that people vary naturally in a protein called caspase-12, which affects their susceptibility to harmful inflammation. The authors of this News and Views article discuss how this finding fits with the current understanding of severe sepsis.

Alternative splicing in disease and therapy. Garcia-Blanco, M. A., Baraniak, A. P. & Lasda, E. L. Nature Biotechnology May (2004) These authors discuss the link between human diseases, aberrant splicing and abnormal protein production, as well as the therapeutic potential of modified oligonucleotides that can inhibit cryptic exons or activate exons weakened by mutations.

Cardiac channelopathies: it's in the genes. Ackerman, M. Nature Medicine May (2004) This historical News and Views piece looks back to the understanding of long QT syndrome as a genetically heterogeneous syndrome and looks forward to the expected release of the first comprehensive clinical genetics tests in cardiology.

Small change: keeping pace with microevolution. Feil, E. J. Nature Reviews Microbiology June (2004) In this Review, the author discusses the latest techniques that are available to explore genetic relatedness in bacteria, and how they can best be used to obtain a comprehensive picture of intraspecies diversity.