Throughout most of the latter half of the 20th century, research on RNAs focused predominantly on their key role as intermediaries between DNA and protein. It was Jacob and Monod who originally proposed that RNAs, because of their intrinsic specificity, might be the elusive factors that instruct genes to turn on and off. In the end, these regulatory factors turned out to be proteins, now commonly referred to as transcription factors, yet, with the discovery of small RNAs in the 1990s, a wave of new research on RNAs has resurrected the idea that RNAs can also serve regulatory functions. Recognizing the incredible interest and recent developments in the field, Cell Press is pleased to announce a symposium in October of 2014 devoted to the subject of regulatory RNAs. Please join us October 12-14 for a meeting focusing on the role of RNAs in gene regulation, genome re-arrangements, cancer, stem cells, and many other topics.