●Guardian spirit blesses meiosis. Allshire, R. Nature 5 February (2004) What holds duplicated chromosomes together during meiosis until the appropriate time for separation? This News and Views article discusses the discovery of Shugoshin (Sgo1) — meaning 'guardian spirit' in Japanese — which has a crucial role in this process.

●RNAse III enzymes and the initiation of gene silencing: just PAZzing through? Carmell, M. A. & Hannon, G. J. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology March (2004)

●Robbing from the pore. Timney, B. L. & Rout, M. P. Nature Cell Biology March (2004) Half the cargo-binding domains of the yeast nuclear pore complex can be simultaneously deleted without seriously affecting nuclear transport. This News and Views article provides some theories to explain why this is possible.

●Ensuring error-free DNA repair. Lindahl, T. Nature 12 February (2004) This News and Views article discusses how the crystal structure of the MutY enzyme bound to its DNA substrate is shedding light on the process of DNA-damage repair.

●Targeting the checkpoint kinases: chemosensitization versus chemoprotection. Zhou, B.-B. & Bartek, J. Nature Reviews Cancer March (2004)

●The evolution of genetic regulatory systems in bacteria. McAdams, H. H., Srinivasan, B. & Arkin, A. P. Nature Reviews Genetics March (2004)

●Interplay between mycobacteria and host signalling pathways. Koul, A., Herget, T., Klebl, B. & Ullrich, A. Nature Reviews Microbiology March (2004)

●State of ion channel research in 2004.Nature Reviews Drug Discovery March (2004) Twenty leading authorities in the broad field of ion channel research have been asked a number of questions of fundamental importance to the future of this subject. Their responses can be found in this 'Twenty Questions' article.

●DNA uptake during bacterial transformation. Chen, I. & Dubnau, D. Nature Reviews Microbiology March (2004)

●NOX enzymes and the biology of reactive oxygen. Lambeth, J. D. Nature Reviews Immunology March (2004)

●Microarrays collection. www.nature.com/reviews/focus/microarrays March (2004) This is the second Nature Reviews collection and contains Highlights, Perspectives and Reviews that focus on key advances in microarray research.