No sex please, we're (in)breeding

A genetic trick allows induction of haploid maize plants by a process known as gynogenesis, which is a useful tool for breeders. In this issue of The EMBO Journal , Gilles et al ([Gilles L, 2017]) show that loss of function of a patatin‐like phospholipase A underlies the induction of gynogenesis, findings that were also made in two other recent studies (Kelliher et al , [Kelliher T, 2017]; Liu et al , [Liu C, 2017]).