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Discovery of the wide conservation of the homeodomain provided revolutionary insight into gene function and ushered in the birth of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo).
Fleming and Burrows discuss similarities between a gene-regulating DNA modification and a mutagenic one, which share a common intermediate when removed through base excision repair.
Nassour et al. demonstrate that the innate immunity sensor Z-DNA binding protein 1 (ZBP1) is an important mediator of immune signalling downstream of shortening telomeres.
In response to tissue damage in adults, embryonic gene expression programmes are reactivated to enhance repair. Hassan Fazilaty describes a correlation between damage extent and how early in embryogenesis the restored expression programme is.
Oded Rechavi and Pavel Tomancak suggest a new approach to ascribing authorship in scientific papers that specifies who thought of each idea, who ran each experiment and who analysed the data.
Following recent changes around the Twitter platform, Robert Insall highlights the importance of social media in science communication and networking, and ponders on the future of science Twitter.
Organelles are normally transmitted to progeny exclusively through the maternal germ line. Chung et al. now describe genetic and environmental factors that increase the inheritance of plastids through pollen.
Yonatan Stelzer highlights a landmark work from the lab of Howard Cedar that addresses how genome-wide DNA methylation patterns are established and instructed by the DNA sequence.
Early zebrafish embryos increase the size and complexity of their nuclear pore complexes, enabling efficient nuclear import of maternal transcription factors, which induces zygotic genome activation.