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Nature Reviews Genetics 9, 817 (1 November 2008) | doi:10.1038/nrg2469

X inactivation: Pluripotency factors flick the switch

Mary Muers

When pluripotent embryonic cells in female mammals differentiate they silence one X chromosome. The key first step in X inactivation is expression of the X-linked non-coding RNA gene Xist, but what couples the onset of Xist expression to cellular differentiation has been a mystery.