Profile of R. Scott Hawley. Interview by Sujata Gupta.

M eiosis sets the stage for sexual reproduction through a trifold and tightly choreographed dance: Chromosomes from the mother and father form pairs, exchange genetic material, and then separate from their partners. Geneticist R. Scott Hawley, who has studied these three steps for the better part of his career, has dubbed the sequence a “meiotic ballet.” Although the dance steps have been known for more than a century, major questions remain unanswered. How do chromosomes find their partners or homologs? What controls the exchange of genetic material? And what happens behind the scenes when paired chromosomes first divide? Studying meiosis is both a biological and a philosophical pursuit, says Hawley, a researcher at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, MO, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2011. How, he asks, do homologs know to pair with each other and not with another chromosome? Philosophically speaking, he asks: “How do you identify your partner? And how do you tell self from nonself?” Better genetic and biochemical tools, as well as increasing sophistication in imaging techniques, now allow researchers like Hawley to probe the intricacies of meiosis in greater detail than ever before. Researchers can identify, even manipulate, specific chromosome regions and individual proteins to map out their involvement in meiosis. In that vein, Hawley’s Inaugural Article combines genetics and imaging techniques with biochemistry to identify the amino acid interactions that drive progression through meiosis (1). Unraveling meiosis at that level of molecular detail, in turn, holds the promise of explaining major medical mysteries, such as why meiotic abnormalities are more prevalent in human females as they age.