It is now well established that cellular 'housekeeping' activities, such as protein synthesis, take place at specific sites to control local signalling. Indeed, when I was working on my Ph.D., the first reports of mRNA transport to the distant ends of neurons, allowing protein synthesis far away from the cell body, were published. With respect to cell migration, almost 20 years ago the Singer laboratory showed that β-actin mRNA is targeted to the leading edge of fibroblasts to enable local actin synthesis. Later, the idea of targeted protein synthesis in cell migration was expanded by Mingle et al. They showed that the mRNAs encoding the seven proteins constituting the actin-related protein 2/3 (ARP2/3) complex, which drives actin polymerization, are targeted to cellular protrusions in fibroblasts, precisely where these proteins are needed for motility.