Abstract This Pillars of Immunology article is a commentary on “MHC class II-positive epithelium and mesenchyme cells are both required for T-cell development in the thymus,” a pivotal article written by G. Anderson, E. J. Jenkinson, N. C. Moore, and J. J. Owen, and published in Nature, in 1993 https://www.nature.com/articles/362070a0.