Many genomics technologies have now made the transition from a discovery phase, in which all relevant data are recorded, to a scoring phase, which reveals groups of genes that are associated with specific biological processes or conditions. And proteomics — which attempts to analyse the entire protein complement of the genome — might not be far behind, according to Ruedi Aebersold and colleagues (page 577). In an Innovation article, they propose that the transition from a discovery phase to a scoring phase is not only imminent and feasible, but also essential, to allow proteomics to achieve its potential as a functional genomics technology.

Another area of research that has come of age in recent years is the regulation of gene transcription. On page 542, Valentina Perissi and Michael G. Rosenfeld discuss the intricacies of gene regulation by the nuclear receptor family of transcription factors, which involves large networks of cofactor complexes. The conventional view that transcription is modulated by the simple alternative recruitment of two opposing regulatory complexes to the promoter has been replaced by a more dynamic model, which requires the precisely timed and ordered recruitment of multiple complexes. The kinetics of promoter occupancy by the nuclear receptor itself is equally dynamic, and undergoes cycles of recruitment and release.

Finally, we bring you the next instalment in our Series of articles on Developmental Cell Biology (http://www.nature.com/nrm/series/devcellbiol) with a Review by Udo Häcker, Kent Nybakken and Norbert Perrimon (page 530). They discuss the recent identification of heparan sulphate proteoglycans as important extracellular regulators of morphogen gradient formation and signal transduction — shedding new light on the complex process of pattern formation during development.