Gene dates, parties and galas

EMBO reports (2009) 10, 689–693. doi:10.1038/embor.2009.136 Introduction At the recent Keystone Symposium on Chromatin Dynamics and Higher Order Organization, an emerging and expanded view of the chromatin landscape was apparent. Many reports connected the organization of individual nucleosomes and histone-modification domains with the spatial co-localization of genes and regulatory elements in three dimensions. It seems, now more than ever, that the nucleus is a lively place. Genes interact with one another at multiple levels during development and disease, and R. Ohlsson (Stockholm, Sweden) introduced the meeting attendees to useful monikers for the various levels of interaction: pairwise (‘dates’), small groups (‘parties’) or large ensembles (‘galas’), all of which occur in a highly regulated manner. This report conveys several of the main themes of this active area of research, and highlights some of the advances and insights discussed at the meeting; we apologize to those speakers whose work we could not mention owing to space limitations.