The advent of a new reverse genetics system for reoviruses, described in this issue of Cell Host & Microbe by Kobayashi et al., opens new horizons of investigation into the molecular mechanisms governing dsRNA virus replication and pathogenesis. The elegant approach for recombinant reovirus recovery from a set of plasmid DNAs provides a template for designing similar reverse genetics systems for other dsRNA viruses associated with considerable morbidity and mortality in humans.