Significant progress has been made toward understanding the roles played by conserved centromere DNA sequences in both mitotic and meiotic chromosome segregation. We are just beginning to formulate a picture of what a yeast kinetochore actually looks like and what components other than CEN DNA are necessary for function. In the next few years some of the genes encoding structural components of the kinetochore, and perhaps some involved in regulation of kinetochore function, will be cloned. Work is already in progress to isolate and characterize the proteins necessary for the assembly, maintenance and function of this amazing biological structure.