Researchers have found a new role for the transcription factor (proteins that regulate the transcription, or copying, of genes). In the fruit fly, this transcription factor, named Traffic Jam, activates a non-coding piRNA gene named Flamenco to promote female fruit fly (drosophila) fertility. The discovery solves the 30-year-old mystery of how Flamenco gets activated to protect fruit fly ovaries from a series of genetic parasites called retroviral transposons, and may one day help with infertility issues in humans.