This Consensus Statement addresses the definition, nomenclature and classification of long non-coding RNAs, and provides a shared viewpoint on their features and functions. The authors also discuss research challenges and provide recommendations to advance our understanding of long non-coding RNAs.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as important players in intercellular communication, carrying proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and various signalling molecules between cells. Unravelling how these different cargoes are sorted into EVs in a regulated and context-specific manner is essential to understanding the specificity of EV-mediated signalling.

Florian Heyd describes a paper that pointed towards alternative splicing as a driver of human cognitive abilities.

In this Tools of the Trade article, Manuela Richter (Dumont lab) describes a method to probe mechanisms of cytoskeletal network re-organization that uses a targeted laser to both trigger network remodelling and track network dynamics.

Emily Wong describes a study that provided a quantitative methodology for analyzing ChIP experiments and shifted our understanding of the functionality of transcription factors.

In this Tools of the Trade article, Bohan Zhang (Gladyshev lab) discusses how the use of extended heterochronic parabiosis in mice (surgical connection between circulatory systems for an extended period), followed by detachment, can shed light on potential mechanisms that reverse mammalian ageing.

Yu et al. identify senescent cells as important players in the regeneration of complex structures.

Phosphorylation of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) maintenance factor TFAM during spermatogenesis prevents its import into mitochondria, resulting in elimination of paternal mtDNA and leading to maternal inheritance.