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Thyroid hormone causes fat loss, but harnessing this action to treat obesity is difficult because it is associated with harmful side effects. However, bile acids generate active thyroid hormone just where it is needed.
How does the complex array of cell types and functions in the mammalian brain develop? Tracking cells by gene expression shows how their fates derive from organization within the simple embryonic neural tube.
Like normal glass, metallic glasses lack long-range order. But experiments and simulations show that, on the nanoscale, clusters of atoms interconnect in these materials to form highly structured ‘superclusters’.
A double-stranded break in DNA can profoundly destabilize a cell's genome. But how does the cell recognize the damage and halt division until it can be fixed? The answer lies in the proteins that package and unravel DNA.
A planet with a mass lower than that of Neptune has been detected as its gravity bent the light from a remote star. This lensing technique adds to our arsenal for spotting small planets outside the Solar System.
Is there a unified theory that relates size and metabolic rate across all organisms? Maybe not, according to the results of experiments that measured respiration in plants of widely varying mass.
An array of nanomagnets has been designed to resemble the disordered magnetic state known as ‘spin ice’. This could transform our understanding of disordered matter and, potentially, lead to new technologies.
Cancer drugs are increasingly designed to target specific cell-signalling pathways. When, and in what combination, these drugs should be used might be judged by analysing the gene expression signature of the tumour.
Among other effects, bromine released by biological processes in the oceans apparently reduces ozone levels in the troposphere. This source may be a link between atmospheric composition and climate change.
To survive environmental stresses, plants must respond to the hormone abscisic acid. The receptors for this hormone have remained elusive, but one receptor with unique functions in flowering has now been identified.
The decay of proton-rich nuclei by the emission of a single proton has been known about for some time, and is well understood. The latest observation of two-proton emission, however, will provoke some head-scratching.
Contrary to the traditional view, the main olfactory pathway can mediate responses to pheromones as well as to common odours. Recent studies show that pheromone-activated hormonal systems extend widely within the brain.
The harlequin frogs of tropical America are at the sharp end of climate change. About two-thirds of their species have died out, and altered patterns of infection because of changes in temperature seem to be the cause.
Magnetic field lines are known to reorganize themselves in plasmas, converting magnetic to particle energy. Evidence harvested from the solar wind implies that the scale of the effect is larger than was thought.
