Although ageing is the most important risk factor for chronic ailments, effective interventions remain rare. Here, the authors identify the flavonoid 4,4’-dimethoxychalcone and demonstrate that it extends lifespan and promotes health in multiple organisms by inducing autophagy.

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are regulatory RNAs that bind to PIWI proteins to control transposons and maintain genome integrity. Here the authors characterized their binding specificity and reveal the 5′ nucleotide bias of the Drosophila Piwi protein, through mutation of its specificity loop.

AGO2 is a core component of the RNAi machinery and contributes to plant immunity during bacterial infection. Here the authors show that AGO2 activity is suppressed by arginine methylation which not only promotes AGO2 degradation but also recruits TSN proteins to degrade AGO2-associated small RNAs.

Hi-C analyses of meiotic and postmeiotic male germ cells show that global reprogramming of 3D chromatin organization gives rise to the highly compartmentalized genome architecture seen in mature sperm.