Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Rice is the first crop plant to have its genome sequenced. Because of the importance of rice for a significant proportion of the world's population, functionally characterizing rice genes is an economic as well as a scientific imperative.
MicroRNAs mediate post-translational regulation of gene expression in various organisms. Although it is clear that the specificity of their action is achieved by base-pair complementarity, the precise mechanism by which they repress translation has been controversial. Clear answers are only beginning to emerge.
Cell-cycle regulation is emerging as a crucial aspect of the ability of stem cells to self-renew. Genetic studies in mice have provided insights into the nature of this regulation, highlighting shared principles in embryonic and adult stem cells.
The epigenetic profile of germ cells undergoes several significant changes that are essential for post-fertilization development to occur. An emerging theme from recent studies is that epigenetic modifiers also have key roles in the development of germ cells themselves.
From the structure of DNA to epigenetic modifications, structural biology has contributed much to genetics. The benefits can also flow the other way — structural determination is benefiting from high-throughput genomic technologies.
As personal genome research advances, investigators and international research bodies must ensure ethical research conduct. The authors discuss three major ethical implications of personal genomics that relate to the participants, their next-of-kin and the data.
