How do germline cells retain their immortality, especially since so many necessary cellular components are prone to loss? A new paper from our lab identifies a novel gene, Indra, as necessary for maintaining the appropriate copy number of rDNA repeats in germline stem cells, allowing them to give rise to the next generation! Check it out here.

In any context, introns and repetitive satellite DNA have often been seen as mere “genomic junk,” but recent work suggests that both – including satellites contained with introns – have necessary functions. Check out a review of this from the lab here.

Germline fate is more plastic than you might think – it can arise (or disappear) in many different species in very different ways. Check out a review on this topic from the lab here.