Coercion, not kinship, often determines who acts altruistically in an insect colony. But underlying affinities for kin emerge when coercion is removed: kin selection is what turns suppressed individuals into altruists.

The mutations that cause retinoblastoma are well known, but how they enable the cancer to evade controls on cell division was unclear. Secondary mutations affecting a growth-regulatory pathway have now been identified.

Can the brain be induced to reroute neural information? Such an achievement is crucial if the function of damaged brain areas is to be taken on elsewhere. A study in monkeys explores this prospect.