Review, News & Views, Perspectives, Hypotheses and Analyses in 2020

Tiny devices have been developed that can act as the legs of laser-controlled microrobots. The compatibility of these devices with microelectronics systems suggests a path to the mass manufacture of autonomous microrobots.

In a few people living with HIV, the virus remains under control without antiretroviral therapy. It emerges that, in these people, the viral DNA that is integrated into the host genome is in a deeply transcriptionally repressed state.

Filaments of keratin — stable protein polymers best known for their function in hair and nails — provide a memory of cell polarity at a crucial stage in early mouse development.

A mutation in the C9orf72 gene is the most common genetic cause of two neurodegenerative diseases. A newly identified immunological function for the C9orf72 protein points to a potential therapeutic strategy for these diseases.

Diodes are devices that conduct electric current mainly in one direction. An electrically polar film that acts as a diode for superconducting current could lead to electronic devices that have ultralow power consumption.

A cellular condition called oxidative stress can kill cancer cells. The finding that skin cancer cells evade such destruction using lipids acquired while passing through lymphatic vessels reveals a mechanism that boosts cancer spread.

A molecule produced by the metabolism of proteins and fats has been found to accumulate in the blood of older people, and to endow cancer cells with the ability to spread from one site in the body to others.

It is unclear why people’s immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus varies so widely. Tracking patient responses over time sheds light on this issue, and has implications for efforts to predict disease severity.

Bacteria with two membranes must regulate the production of a surface molecule known as lipopolysaccharide. The structure of an essential signal-transduction protein now reveals how lipopolysaccharide controls its own synthesis.

Structures similar to closed-ended tunnelling nanotubes have now been seen connecting pericyte cells in the mouse retina. The structures enable pericytes to coordinate their responses to neural activity, thereby modulating blood flow.

Learning how immune cells target tumours is crucial for cancer immunotherapy. The finding that a type of dendritic cell activates two sorts of T cell and coordinates their crosstalk sheds light on immune responses to tumours.

Plots of tropical forest soils were warmed by 4 °C for two years to observe the effects on soil carbon emissions. The increase in efflux of carbon dioxide was larger than expected — a result with worrying implications for climate change.

A pheromone molecule that makes crop-damaging locusts swarm has been identified. Could this pheromone, which is sensed by odorant receptors, be used to trap these insects and prevent the agricultural devastation that they cause?

Does the conversion of natural habitats to human use favour animals that harbour agents causing human disease? A global analysis of vertebrates provides an answer to this pressing question.

Chemists generally regard benzene rings as preformed units that are elaborated to build larger molecules. This idea has now been challenged in reactions for making anilines — precursors of many high-value chemical products.

New Guinea has the world’s richest island flora, according to the area’s first plant list catalogued by experts. Completing this list poses a formidable challenge that New Guineans are best placed to take up.

The genome sequence of an unusual reptile called the tuatara sheds light on the species’ evolution and on conservation strategies. The work is a model of current best practice for collaborating with Indigenous communities.

An innovative metric has been devised to quantify the size and extent of the warm waters during marine heatwaves. It thus reflects how far ocean organisms might travel to find cooler conditions — a key factor in these warming events.

Does the loss of species through habitat decline follow the same pattern whether the area lost is part of a large or a small habitat? An analysis sheds light on this long-running debate, with its implications for conservation strategies.

Observations of a star system called the Phoenix stellar stream offer the first evidence of vanished star clusters that had extremely low levels of heavy elements. Their remnants might cast light on the early assembly of the Milky Way.