I provide a personal account of the discovery, cloning and functional analyses of the human XPG gene. Mutations in this gene can give rise to the group G form of xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) and, in some cases, to severe early onset Cockayne syndrome (CS). The XPG protein has well established catalytic and structural roles in nucleotide excision repair (NER) and it acts as a cofactor for a DNA glycosylase that removes oxidised pyrimidines from DNA. XPG may also be involved in transcription-coupled repair of this kind of damage, in transcription by RNA polymerase II, and perhaps in other processes too. Our current knowledge of this important protein is largely based on some excellent, highly focussed science. But good luck, serendipity and scientific scandal have also made major contributions to this unfinished story.