As the new year begins, our thoughts turn to fresh starts and to well-intentioned resolutions. Are you intending to quit smoking perhaps? One group that is unlikely to give up its favourite weed just yet is the plant genetics community. As discussed in Highlights, the sequencing of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome, together with new microarray studies, promise much for those who indulge in this weed's genetics.

Or maybe that fresh start will lead you to relocate — but how will your new surroundings affect you? The influence of genomic location on gene function and expression is discussed by two reviews this month. As Wolf Reik and Jörn Walter discuss, imprinted genes are frequently clustered on chromosomes, where their expression is regulated by imprinting centres. And Phil Avner and Edith Heard review mammalian X inactivation, which is also controlled by a single regulatory element — the X-inactivation centre. Further parallels between X inactivation and imprinting include DNA hypermethylation, chromatin condensation and late replication — events that are associated with gene silencing. Highlights discusses two new tools — heterochromatin-binding drugs and methylation-defective cells — that might help tease these events apart.

Perhaps, this year you have resolved to read more broadly around your subject. If so, Trudy Mackay's article on quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis in Drosophila is required reading for anyone interested in multifactorial genetics. In the fly, the properties and architecture of QTL have been described in great detail. The lessons for those who work on larger animals are plentiful — and daunting.

Finally, if the new year has evoked philosophical reflections on the meaning of life, we hope you'll find John Robertson's ethical appraisal of human embryonic stem cell research further food for thought.