The phosphorylation and acetylation (phosphoacetylation) of histone H3 tails concomitant with gene activation is now well established and has been observed at several inducible genes. However, two aspects of this response have been controversial. The first relates to the identity of the kinase that phosphorylates histone H3. Experiments with Coffin-Lowry cells purporting to show that Rsk2 was the histone H3 kinase have proven to be irreproducible. The second relates to the proposition that histone H3 phosphorylation and acetylation are 'synergistic and coupled' in mammalian cells. But here too, some of the experiments have not been reproducible and some of the key statements contaminated by issues of antibody specificity. More recent studies indicate that H3 phosphorylation and acetylation are independently targeted to the same histone H3 tail.