Table of contents
From the editors
p423 | doi:10.1038/nrg2624
Research Highlights
Genome evolution: Hit repeat for evolvability | PDF (133 KB)
p424 | doi:10.1038/nrg2622
RNA world: A new class of small RNAs | PDF (145 KB)
p425 | doi:10.1038/nrg2613
In brief
Mobile elements | Epigenetics | Genome instability | Technology | PDF (118 KB)
p425 | doi:10.1038/nrg2621
Small RNAs: Microbial metatranscriptomics goes deep | PDF (121 KB)
p426 | doi:10.1038/nrg2616
Genome evolution: A manual way to the ancestral genome | PDF (143 KB)
p426 | doi:10.1038/nrg2619
Transcriptomics: Revealing the extent of RNA editing | PDF (138 KB)
p426 | doi:10.1038/nrg2623
In brief
Human disease | Gene regulation | Animal models | Plant genetics | PDF (117 KB)
p427 | doi:10.1038/nrg2629
RNA processing: Viral infection has a sting in the tail | PDF (168 KB)
p428 | doi:10.1038/nrg2620
Human disease: Malaria GWA study brings progress for infectious disease genetics | PDF (165 KB)
p428 | doi:10.1038/nrg2627
Development: Cells size themselves up | PDF (244 KB)
p429 | doi:10.1038/nrg2618
An Interview With...
Louis Kunkel | PDF (103 KB)
p430 | doi:10.1038/nrg2614
Reviews
The genetic contribution to non-syndromic human obesity
Andrew J. Walley, Julian E. Asher & Philippe Froguel
p431 | doi:10.1038/nrg2594
Recent genome-wide studies have identified many common variants that are associated with non-syndromic obesity, providing new opportunities to explore its biological basis. Understanding the roles of epigenetics and of rare and copy number variants are important goals for the future.
Article series: Modelling
From DNA sequence to transcriptional behaviour: a quantitative approach
Eran Segal & Jonathan Widom
p443 | doi:10.1038/nrg2591
This Review presents a quantitative framework for translating DNA sequences into transcriptional behaviours. Such a model, based on the binding affinity landscape of molecules to genomic sequences, can help to describe complex phenomena such as transcriptional noise and the evolution of transcriptional regulation.
Transcription factories: gene expression in unions?
Heidi Sutherland & Wendy A. Bickmore
p457 | doi:10.1038/nrg2592
Foci of transcriptional activity are observed in eukaryotic nuclei and have been called transcription factories. However, many uncertainties about their function and identity remain and the evidence can be conflicting, as the authors discuss in this Review.
Making a firm decision: multifaceted regulation of cell fate in the early mouse embryo
Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, Samantha A. Morris & Alexander W. Bruce
p467 | doi:10.1038/nrg2564
How cell fate decisions are made is a fundamental question in developmental biology. Recent analyses of the first two fate decisions in mammalian embryogenesis illustrate the potential interplay of transcriptional circuits, epigenetic modification, cell position and polarity in lineage choice.
Understanding what determines the frequency and pattern of human germline mutations
Norman Arnheim & Peter Calabrese
p478 | doi:10.1038/nrg2529
Mutations that arise de novo in the human germ line are rare, but they contribute significantly to disease. This Review discusses current methods of assessing mutation frequency and examines factors — from nucleotide context and gene function to parental sex and age — that influence mutation patterns.
Perspectives
Science and society
Challenges of translating genetic tests into clinical and public health practice
Wolf H. Rogowski, Scott D. Grosse & Muin J. Khoury
p489 | doi:10.1038/nrg2606
Molecular genetic testing is increasingly being used in health care settings. The authors discuss the challenges faced by decision makers when weighing up the health benefits of testing, and its economic costs.
Opinion
Mitochondrial and plastid evolution in eukaryotes: an outsiders' perspective
Jeferson Gross & Debashish Bhattacharya
p495 | doi:10.1038/nrg2610
The mitochondrion and plastid are derived from bacterial endosymbionts that were transformed over time into organelles. Here the authors posit an explanation for how the eukaryotic hosts controlled the evolution of these organelles through the establishment of protein-sorting systems.
There is an Erratum (September 2009) associated with this article.
