Kara McKinley is an assistant professor of stem-cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University. In addition to advancing our understanding of endometrial regeneration, she has tackled the gender bias in the academic job market by founding the ‘Leading Edge Fellows’ program. Nature Cell Biology contacted her to discuss her career and goals for our research community.

The Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) in Singapore has helped the local scientific community to grow. Nature Cell Biology spoke to Wanjin Hong (executive director at A*STAR’s IMCB) and Guillaume Thibault (associate professor affiliated with Nanyang Technological University Singapore, National University of Singapore and A*STAR’s IMCB), who have dedicated parts of their careers to the growth of cell biology research in Singapore, about the history and directions of cell biological research programs in Singapore.

Alternative splicing of eukaryotic messenger RNA transcripts often leads to the production of several mature RNAs — including linear RNAs and circular RNAs (circRNAs) — from a single gene locus. The names given to circRNAs are often ambiguous and lack consistency across studies. This Comment calls on the community to embrace a common nomenclature for naming circRNAs to ensure clarity and reproducibility.

Sountoulidis et al. provide a spatial gene expression atlas of human embryonic lung during the first trimester of gestation and identify 83 cell identities corresponding to stable cell types or transitional states.

Huebner et al. develop a 2D culture system to study gastric isthmus stem cells and identify a role for Sox2 in specifying enterochromaffin cells in the stomach.

Martino, Sunkara et al. report that endothelin produced by hair follicle progenitors binds to endothelin receptors on dermal sheath cells to trigger their contraction and hair follicle regression.

Wong et al. report that expanding human embryonic stem cell-derived endodermal progenitors serve as a ventral foregut model, through which they identify a link between progenitor expansion and tissue-specific changes in the enhancer landscape.

Adriaenssens et al. provide evidence suggesting that cytosolic small heat shock proteins localize to the mitochondrial intermembrane space, where they operate as molecular chaperones.

Independent but complementary studies from Vakoc and Stegmaier identify and characterize a role for ETV6 in counteracting the transcriptional activity of EWS–FLI during Ewing sarcoma development, which may be targeted for therapeutic benefits.

Deshwal et al. show that the protease PARL regulates coenzyme Q (CoQ) via the lipid transfer protein STARD7. Mitochondrial STARD7 ensures CoQ synthesis; cytosolic STARD7 preserves CoQ transport to the membrane, protecting cells against ferroptosis.

Daylon James in an associate professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, where his work focuses on reproductive biology and cell-based approaches for treating infertility. Arun Sharma is an assistant professor at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Regenerative Medicine Institute, and his lab works on modelling cardiovascular diseases and developing cell-based screening platforms for drug toxicity. Many of us also know them as the hosts of the Stem Cell Podcast. Here, we ask them about the podcast and discuss their view on the stem cell field and science communication.

Kara McKinley is an assistant professor of stem-cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University. In addition to advancing our understanding of endometrial regeneration, she has tackled the gender bias in the academic job market by founding the ‘Leading Edge Fellows’ program. Nature Cell Biology contacted her to discuss her career and goals for our research community.

The Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) in Singapore has helped the local scientific community to grow. Nature Cell Biology spoke to Wanjin Hong (executive director at A*STAR’s IMCB) and Guillaume Thibault (associate professor affiliated with Nanyang Technological University Singapore, National University of Singapore and A*STAR’s IMCB), who have dedicated parts of their careers to the growth of cell biology research in Singapore, about the history and directions of cell biological research programs in Singapore.

Alternative splicing of eukaryotic messenger RNA transcripts often leads to the production of several mature RNAs — including linear RNAs and circular RNAs (circRNAs) — from a single gene locus. The names given to circRNAs are often ambiguous and lack consistency across studies. This Comment calls on the community to embrace a common nomenclature for naming circRNAs to ensure clarity and reproducibility.