In this Journal Club, Itay Tirosh highlights a 2011 publication by Gupta et al., which showed that cells undergo frequent stochastic transitions between distinct states in breast cancer cell lines.

Lillian Musila highlights a paper by Quick et al., which reported the use of portable nanopore sequencing for on-site, real-time genomic surveillance during the 2014–2016 Ebola virus epidemic.

Elizabeth Mason recalls a seminal study by Raj et al., who used single-molecule approaches to expose principles governing how genes in a network cooperate to buffer perturbation while maintaining essential cellular functions.

In this Comment, the authors highlight caveats about using African ethnicities as population categories in genomics research and emphasize the need for an Africa-oriented humanities research agenda to inform genomics research.

Somatic mutations accumulate with age in the genome of healthy individuals. Franco and Eriksson posit that recent sequencing data indicate a functional role for this increased mutational load in ageing and age-associated diseases.

In this Editorial, we reflect on the field’s responsibility around the potential uses and abuses of genetics and genomics research.

In this Journal Club, Itay Tirosh highlights a 2011 publication by Gupta et al., which showed that cells undergo frequent stochastic transitions between distinct states in breast cancer cell lines.

Gegenhuber et al. now show that, in mice, a neonatal surge in oestradiol activates oestrogen receptor-α to drive a sustained male-typical gene expression programme that determines brain sexual differentiation.

To mark the bicentenary of Gregor Mendel’s birth, the authors reflect on progress in the application of genetics and genomics to delivering a cure for sickle cell disease, a classic Mendelian disorder.