FOCUS : Understanding how the genes critical to endocrine pancreas development, as well as β-cell function and proliferation are regulated is essential for the development of novel strategies for the production of insulin-secreting cells, and for improving the efficacy of available transplantable material. The recent development of several novel experimental techniques is beginning to make the elucidation of the mechanisms behind the control of β-cell critical genes, on a global basis, a feasible and tractable task in mammalian biology. The utilization of these techniques to understand endocrine pancreas development and function is highly novel and potentially extremely significant in advancing our understanding of these processes and is the focus of our research.