The award of this year's Nobel prize in physiology or medicine to Paul Nurse, Lee Hartwell and Tim Hunt marks a key point in cell cycle research. Starting with the discovery of the cyclin proteins, followed by the isolation of the first cell-cycle and checkpoint mutants, many of the fundamental mechanisms by which cells ensure ordered replication and division have been elucidated. In addition, much has been learned about the regulatory circuits that cells use to regulate entry into, and exit from, the cell cycle in response to external signals such as hormones and growth factors. Finally, the elucidation of whole genome sequences has shown us that we now know the entire set of genes encoding the key players in cell cycle regulation, such as cyclins or cyclin-dependent kinases, in many of the model organisms used. The reviews in this section of Current Opinion in Cell Biology highlight how far the field has progressed, and at the same time focus on some of the central open questions that are currently being addressed.
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