This week’s articles highlight a newly discovered DNA repair system and the role of an inherited repressive epigenetic mark in fly embryonic development.
DNA REPAIR
Not-so-sweet DNA damage repaired
Richarme et al. identified a DNA repair system that acts specifically on bases damaged by reaction with by-products of sugar metabolism in the cell (see also Dingler and Patel).
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
Intergenerational transcription taming
Zenk et al. demonstrated that inherited repressive epigenetic information controls transcriptional output in offspring.