The role of cyclins and their catalytic partners, the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), as core components of the machinery that drives cell cycle progression is well established. Increasing evidence indicates that mammalian cyclins and CDKs also carry out important roles in other cellular processes such as transcription, DNA damage repair, the control of cell death, differentiation, the immune response and metabolism. Some of these non-canonical functions are performed by cyclins or by CDKs, independent of their respective cell cycle partners, suggesting a substantial divergence in the function of these proteins during evolution.