Papers from the literature selected by the Nature Biotechnology editors. (Follow us on Twitter, @NatureBiotech #nbtHighlight)

Optogenetic control of mitochondrial metabolism and Ca 2+ signaling by mitochondria-targeted opsins

Tkatch, T. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 10.1073/pnas.1703623114 (2017).

Printable elastic conductors by in situ formation of silver nanoparticles from silver flakes

Matsuhisa, N. et al. Nat. Mater. 10.1038/nmat4904 (2017).

Metformin alters the gut microbiome of individuals with treatment-naive type 2 diabetes, contributing to the therapeutic effects of the drug

Wu, H. et al. Nat. Med. 10.1038/nm.4345 (2017).

A subcellular map of the human proteome

Thul, P.J. et al. Science 356, eaal3321 (2017).

Absolute quantification of protein and mRNA abundances demonstrate variability in gene-specific translation efficiency in yeast

Lahtvee, P.J. et al. Cell Syst. 4, 495–504.e5 (2017).

Improved maize reference genome with single-molecule technologies

Jiao, Y. et al. Nature 546, 524–527 (2017).

The sunflower genome provides insights into oil metabolism, flowering and Asterid evolution

Badouin, H. et al. Nature 546, 148–152 (2017).