[Perspective] When cells push the envelope

By enclosing chromosomes within a nuclear envelope (NE), eukaryotic cells are able to segregate transcription and translation, key activities involved in gene expression (1). The implication is that maintenance of the NE as a selective barrier represents an essential aspect of normal cellular physiology. However, it also presents the cell with the predicament of how to accommodate a membrane-limited organelle that might occupy a substantial portion of the cell volume. On pages 353 and 359 of thi