Amyloid deposits are present in the brains of cognitively impaired individuals, but also accumulate throughout the body. Some biotechs aim to keep these misfolded proteins in check to treat a range of diseases, including heart failure, ALS and Alzheimer’s disease.

Method could probe whether a key tenet of quantum mechanics applies to gravity, which has so far resisted quantum theory.

Mechanical engineer Legena Henry converts sargassum and rum-distillery waste water to produce sustainable natural gas for vehicles.

The code underlying the Nobel-prize-winning tool for modelling protein structures can now be downloaded by academics.

At small or minority-serving institutions, time and resources that are needed to draft successful grant proposals are often in short supply. But help is available.

From maps of the stars to the multiverse, four enlightening art shows reveal diverse impressions of the cosmos.

Circular RNAs are prevalent, mysterious and fascinating, but their study requires great care.

Remains recovered from plaster casts of five people who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius have overturned some old assumptions about who they were. Plus, mitochondria can split into two different forms under stress.

The popularity of private planes, the distance covered by flights and associated greenhouse-gas production are all on the rise.

Some researchers seek to establish a single abnormal result on a set of biomarker-based tests as sufficient to diagnose the disease.

The standardized naming of gene variants in both databases and publications is crucial to ensure their discoverability and clinical application. Efforts are underway in conjunction with the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) to develop a field standard for variant reporting through the use of validation software prior to publication.

Pathogenic expansions of tandem repeat sequences underlie a diverse set of neurological conditions. To assess frequencies of repeat expansion mutations in the general population, Ibañez et al. analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from two large population-based studies comprising 82,176 individuals of diverse ancestries, focusing on 16 repeat expansion disorder loci for which they could accuracy classify

Dietary restriction and genetics can impact health and lifespan in various species. Di Francesco et al. investigated the effects of caloric restriction and intermittent fasting on the lifespan of 960 genetically diverse female mice, in which hundreds of physiological traits were profiled. These diverse outbred mice were randomized to one of five diet groups: ad libitum; 1 day or 2 consecutive days

Genome sequencing of large cohorts has identified many protein-coding missense variants, the functional consequences of which remain difficult to predict computationally. Lacoste et al. use a new high-throughput screening approach to characterize the effects of known pathogenic variants on protein localization. They analyzed a total of 3,448 variants, many with known or likely pathogenicity in the

Previous studies have characterized chromatin conformation and DNA methylation dynamics in early postnatal and adult brain tissues. To gain single-cell resolution, Heffel et al. used single-nucleus methyl-3C sequencing to profile chromatin conformation and DNA methylation during human prenatal development of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus and compared these with postnatal and adult tissues.

Optical pooled CRISPR screens have been widely adopted for functional genomic studies. Gu et al. present CRISPRmap, an optical pooled screening approach that integrates sequencing-free in situ barcode readout with cyclic immunofluorescence and RNA detection. The cyclical hybridization readout method improves the specificity and sensitivity of barcode detection through combinatorial hybridization of

Mammalian pachytene PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are expressed during the pachytene stage in spermatocytes with proposed roles in the regulation of meiosis. However, their specific functions and targets remain elusive. In this study, Swathi Arur and colleagues interrogate the function of 21URNAs, the Caenorhabditis elegans piRNAs, and the PIWI homolog prg-1 in the male germline. They show that loss

The combination of different checkpoint inhibitors has been shown to benefit some patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but identifying those who are most likely to benefit and sparing patients who will not remains a crucial challenge. Skoulidis et al. show that tumors with mutations in KEAP1 and/or STK11 are more likely to respond to dual PD-L1 and CTLA4 blockade (with the inhibitors durvalumab

Samantha Harvey talks to Nature about her book Orbital

Donald Trump made numerous promises during his presidential campaign that could affect scientists and science policy. Will they be implemented once he is president?

A place to hide.

The treatment, given to four people with damaged corneas, seems safe but needs to be tested in larger trials.

Virologist Beata Halassy says self-treatment worked and was a positive experience — but researchers warn that it is not something others should try.

Norway offers up to 2 hours of paid time per day for breastfeeding. Why do other countries’ parental support policies lag so far behind?

The continuous evolution of SARS-CoV-2, particularly the emergence of BA.2.86/JN.1 lineage replacing XBB, necessitates re-evaluation of vaccine compositions 1–3. Here, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the humoral immune response to XBB and JN.1 human exposure. We demonstrate the antigenic distinctiveness of XBB and JN.1 lineages in SARS-CoV-2-naive individuals, and JN.1 infection elicits superior

Scientists raise the alarm following updated research ethics guidelines on heritable human genome editing.

The sex and ancestry of five people who died in the eruption are revealed by genetic material embedded in the casts.

Deciphering how mammals respond to sensations through their fur could inspire further research on skin sensitivity.

A satellite made of wood has been sent to the International Space Station, where it’ll later be released into orbit. Plus, we learn that snapshots of atomic nuclei smashing together can show us what shape they were.

Elderly big brown bats showed little sign of age-related degradation in the inner ear.

Physicist Mark Thomson will face several challenges — including bringing in enough money to build a colossal new particle-smashing ‘Higgs factory’.

Many prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells metabolize glucose to organism-specific by-products instead of fully oxidizing it to carbon dioxide and water—a phenomenon referred to as the Warburg Effect. The benefit to a cell is not fully understood, given that partial metabolism of glucose yields an order of magnitude less adenosine triphosphate (ATP) per molecule of glucose than complete oxidation. Here

Enhancing terrestrial carbon (C) stock through ecological restoration, one of the prominent approaches for natural climate solutions, is conventionally considered to be achieved through an ecological pathway, i.e., increased plant C uptake. By conducting a comprehensive regional survey of 4279 1 × 1 m 2 plots at 517 sites across China’s drylands and a 13-y manipulative experiment in a semiarid grassland

The formation of mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) is a key phenomenon that may explain the slow turnover rates of carbon in soil organic matter (SOM). Despite this, important details pertaining to the structure and dynamics of MAOM remain unknown. In the present study, we use replica-exchange molecular dynamics simulations to gain insight into the structure of MAOM on the surface of prototypical

The expression of a few key genes determines the body plan of the fruit fly. We show that the spatial expression patterns for several of these genes scale precisely with embryo size. Discrete positional markers such as the peaks in striped patterns or the boundaries of expression domains have positions along the embryo’s major axis proportional to embryo length, accurate to within 1%. Further, the

Neural manifolds summarize the intrinsic structure of the information encoded by a population of neurons. Advances in experimental techniques have made simultaneous recordings from multiple brain regions increasingly commonplace, raising the possibility of studying how these manifolds relate across populations. However, when the manifolds are nonlinear and possibly code for multiple unknown variables

Cellular deconvolution via bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) presents a cost-effective and efficient alternative to experimental methods such as flow cytometry and single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) for analyzing the complex cellular composition of tumor microenvironments. Despite challenges due to heterogeneity within and among tumors, our innovative deep learning–based approach, DeSide, shows exceptional

A striking feature of human cognition is an exceptional ability to rapidly adapt to novel situations. It is proposed this relies on abstracting and generalizing past experiences. While previous research has explored how humans detect and generalize single sequential processes, we have a limited understanding of how humans adapt to more naturalistic scenarios, for example, complex, multisubprocess environments

Spatial-transcriptomics technologies have demonstrated exceptional performance in characterizing brain and visceral organ tissues, as well as brain and retinal organoids. However, it has not yet been proven whether spatial transcriptomics can effectively characterize primary tissue-derived organoids, as the standardized tissue sectioning or slicing methods are not applicable for such organoids. Herein

The Stoner instability remains a cornerstone for understanding metallic ferromagnets. This instability captures the interplay of Coulomb repulsion, Pauli exclusion, and twofold fermionic spin degeneracy. In materials with spin–orbit coupling, this fermionic spin is generalized to a twofold degenerate pseudospin which is typically believed to have symmetry properties as spin. Here, we identify a distinct

The establishment of reproductive barriers such as postzygotic h ybrid i ncompatibility (HI) remains the key to speciation. Gene duplication followed by differential functionalization has long been proposed as a major model underlying HI, but little supporting evidence exists. Here, we demonstrate that a newborn F-box gene, Cni-neib-1 , of the nematode Caenorhabditis nigoni specifically inactivates

Many seabirds congregate in large colonies for breeding, a time when they are central place foragers. An influential idea in seabird ecology posits that competition during breeding results in an area of reduced prey availability around colonies, a phenomenon known as Ashmole’s halo, and that this limits colony size. This idea has gained empirical support, including the finding that species coexisting

In Toxoplasma gondii , the conoid comprises a cone with spiraling tubulin fibers, preconoidal rings, and intraconoidal microtubules. This dynamic organelle undergoes extension and retraction through the apical polar ring (APR) during egress, gliding, and invasion. The forces involved in conoid extrusion are beginning to be understood, and its role in directing F-actin flux to the pellicular space,

The concepts of origami and kirigami have often been presented separately. Here, we put forth a synergistic approach—the folded kirigami—in which kirigami assemblies are complemented by means of folding, typical of origami patterns. Besides the emerging patterns themselves, the synergistic approach also leads to topological mechanical metamaterials. While kirigami metamaterials have been fabricated

Host–pathogen interactions are shaped by the metabolic status of both the host and pathogen. The host must regulate metabolism to fuel the immune response, while the pathogen must extract metabolic resources from the host to enable its own survival. In this study, we focus on the metabolic interactions of Mycobacterium abscessus with Drosophila melanogaster . We identify MAB_1132c as an asparagine

Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 2 (TRPM2) cation channels contribute to immunocyte activation, insulin secretion, and central thermoregulation. TRPM2 opens upon binding cytosolic Ca 2+ and ADP ribose (ADPR). We present here the 2.5 Å cryo-electronmicroscopy structure of TRPM2 from Nematostella vectensis (nvTRPM2) in a lipid nanodisc, complexed with Ca 2+ and ADPR-2′-phosphate. Comparison with

The pathway for synthesis of proline in most forms of life produces a highly unstable intermediate, γ-L-glutamyl 5-phosphate (GP). For nearly 70 y, channeling of this intermediate from the active site of glutamate 5-kinase to the active site of GP reductase has been believed to protect GP from cyclization to a dead-end product. However, the evidence presented in support of this idea is not conclusive

The choroid is the thin, vasculature-filled layer of the eye situated between the sclera and the retina, where it serves the metabolic needs of the light-sensing photoreceptors in the retina. Illumination of the interior surface of the back of the eye (fundus) is a critical regulator of subretinal fluid homeostasis, which determines the overall shape of the eye, but it is also important for choroidal

Studies from Ionescu et al.1 and Clayton et al.2 using multiple sclerosis (MS) patient-derived cell models underscore cholesterol metabolism’s role in inflammatory and dysfunctional cell phenotypes in the disease. Inhibiting cholesterol biosynthesis ameliorated critical cellular phenotypes, emphasizing the need to further investigate this pathway as a potential target for MS treatment.

Two recent publications in Cell Stem Cell, Yang et al.1 and Migliorini et al.,2 utilized pluripotent stem cell-derived co-culture systems to explore the role of macrophages within the pancreatic islet during development and disease states.

An inappropriate induction of trained immunity in the bone marrow progenitors of immune cells has been described to underlie chronic inflammatory processes. Mills and colleagues’ recently published paper in Cell Stem Cell shows that maladaptive trained immunity drives inflammation in autoimmune processes,1 opening a new area of research in autoimmunity.

Epitope editing is a promising strategy for protecting hematopoietic cells from eradication by immunotherapies. Recently, in Cell Stem Cell, Ji et al. applied both base editing (BE) and prime editing (PE) to alter the epitope of CD123 in hematopoietic stem cells for CAR-T therapy against acute myeloid leukemia.1