Abstract

smORFing for Calcium Genomes contain thousands of small open reading frames (smORFs), short DNA sequences coding for peptides of less than 100 amino acids. Magny et al. (p. 1116 , published on 22 August) describe two smORF-encoded peptides of less than 30 amino acids regulating calcium transport and, hence, regular heart contraction, in the fruit fly Drosophila . These peptides seem to have been conserved for more than 550 million years in a range of species from flies to humans, where they have been implicated in severe heart diseases. Such conservation suggests that smORFs might be an ancient part of our functional genome.