Comment

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.

Publicly shared metabolomics data may contain key answers to central questions in cell biology, but re-use of the data is complicated by the lack of standardized experimental and computational methods in the field. This Comment provides some tips to help ensure that shared metabolomics data are re-used appropriately.

For the past 40 years, minimal reconstituted systems have helped cell biologists to understand the mechanisms that underlie membrane traffic. Having progressed from minimal synthetic and cell-derived ensembles to direct comparison with living systems, reconstitution is poised for ever more precise and informative understanding of membrane biology.

The extracellular vesicle (EV) surface corona is emerging as a crucial mediator of EV functions. This Comment discusses the roles and biogenesis of the EV corona, as well as the importance of controls to determine whether a biological effect is attributable to the internal EV cargo or to the corona associated with the EV exofacial surface.

To address health disparities and facilitate increasingly personalized treatments, we need to develop new models for basic and disease research that reflect diverse ancestral backgrounds and sex, and ensure that diverse populations are included among donors and research participants.

Current advances in biotechnology open up unprecedented possibilities to transform human tissues into complex, valuable tissue products, such as organoids. Here, we propose consent for governance as a leading paradigm for the derivation, storage and use of complex human tissue products to ensure adjustment to changing ethical requirements.

Cell biologists must decide whether to embrace the maturing field of systems biology. We argue that a fusion of the two is urgently needed to strengthen both fields.

Novel perspectives emerge from a recent conference on the origins of eukaryotic cells, which covered phylogenetics, population genetics and evolutionary consequences of energy requirements and host–pathogen interactions.

Although the road to cell therapeutics is rife with uncertainties — scientific, clinical and economic — its success could transform medicine. Five years into its mission, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine is laying a foundation for this new form of medical treatment.

Many RNA interference (RNAi) screens are now performed to functionally annotate the mammalian genome. Implementing a public repository based on common data standards is essential to realize the full value of largescale RNAi data sets.

There is a lack of trained scientists to fill the increasing number of jobs and funding opportunities in the Indian scientific research sector. This is a great opportunity for the international scientific community to help build and nurture a vibrant cell biology research community in India.

Here, we make a case for multivariate measurements in cell biology with minimal perturbation. We discuss how correlative data can identify cause-effect relationships in cellular pathways with potentially greater accuracy than conventional perturbation studies.

In the current climate of cuts to science and research funding, the commitment of researchers to influencing science policy has resurfaced as an essential issue.

Image repositories are growing. Their potential impact is huge; they require support and proper funding.