Nature Protocols aims to publish the protocols being used to answer outstanding biological and biomedical science research questions, including methods grounded in physics and chemistry that have a practical application to the study of biological problems. Specific techniques of interest include, but are not limited to, protocols relating to:

Biochemistry and Protein analysis

Protein structures, protein interactions, protein engineering, enzymology, binding assays, surface-plasmon based resonance, sequencing, BRET, FRET, two-hybrid, three-hybrid, molecular structure determination, analytical ultracentrifugation, UV-visible spectroscopy, IR and NMR, epitope tagging, probe scanning, kinetics and thermodynamics, enzyme assays, ion channel assays, other functional assays, detection of post-translational modifications (phosphorylation, sulfonylation, glycosylation, lipidation, etc), coimmunoprecipitation

Cell and Developmental biology

Apoptosis, cell cycle, senescence, FRET, organelle isolation, migration assays, wound healing assays, fate mapping, cell ablation studies, cell transplantation, transport/localization

Cell and Tissue culture

Isolation and identification, manipulation, transfection, cell/tissue equivalents to animal models, primary cell culture, tissue engineering and stem cells

Chemical modification

Chemical tagging of biomolecules, labeling, fluorescent labeling, radiolabeling, stable-isotope labeling, chemical ligation, biopolymer synthesis using non-natural monomers, detection of post-translational modifications (phosphorylation, sulfonylation, glycosylation, lipidation, etc), epitope tagging

Computational and Theoretical biology

Management and analysis of sequence data, intron/exon structure identification, expression pattern databases and statistical methods/computer programs to analyze microarrays, protein folding/unfolding analysis, network systems/systems biology and complexity, molecular modeling, quantitative structure-activity relationships, neuroinformatics, phylogenetics, statistics

Genetic analysis

RNAi, mutagenesis, physical mapping, recombination mapping, genetic screens, pedigree analysis, association studies, genotyping, sequencing, arrays, genomics, FISH, promoter and/or enhancer studies, gene expression, splicing, nucleic acid transport, nucleic acid localization, phylogenetics, evo-devo, cytogenetics, molecular diagnostics

Genetic modification

Gene targeting, transduction, RNAi, mutagenesis, bacteriophages, plasmids, transfection, transformation, transgenic manipulation, retroviruses

Genomics/Proteomics

High throughput analysis, microarrays, metabolomics/metabonomics, ribonomics, aptamer selection, SAGE, SELEX, single molecule detection and characterization, protein evolution activity-based proteomics, next generation sequencing technology

Imaging

Microscopy, optical spectroscopy, x-ray computed tomography, electron microscopy (including cryo-EM), live cell and tissue imaging, MRI, PET, SPECT, chemical imaging reagents and fMRI, (in vivo) fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging, single molecule techniques

Immunological techniques

Production of antibodies, antibody-based assays, immunolabeling, antibody engineering and xenotransplantation

Isolation, Purification and Separation

Cytometry, electrophoresis, centrifugation, organelle isolation, chromatography, chiral separation, immunoaffinity, preparation of stationary phases, affinity chromatography, and other separation techniques

Microbiology and Virology

Biofilms, culture, transfection, environmental microbiology, biochemistry, disease models, ecology, evolution and biodiversity, genetics and genomics, genetic modification, metagenomics, pathogenesis and host defense, diagnostics, antimicrobial therapies and vaccines, serotyping/diagnostic techniques

Model organisms

Yeast, zebrafish, C. elegans, Drosophila, mouse, rat, guinea pig, human, Xenopus, Arabidopsis and others

Nanotechnology

Nanobiology, nanobiotechnology, quantum dots, nanomedicine, drug delivery, imaging contrast agents, nanoelectromechanical devices and lab-on-a-chip technologies

Neuroscience

Electrophysiology, behavioral assays, functional imaging, neuroinformatics, neuronal culture

Nucleic Acid based Molecular Biology

Libraries and screening, recombinant technology, cloning, PCR-based techniques (including qPCR and RT-PCR), northern, Southern, single molecule detection and characterization, mutation detection, DNA sequencing, hybridization techniques, oligonucleotide sequencing, nucleic acid isolation and purification

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Ligand and small molecule design, management and analysis of data and predictive ADMETox, receptor binding, surface-plasmon based resonance, high-throughput assays, enzyme assays (including ELISA), ion channel assays, functional assays, chemical genetics/chemical genomics, analysis of drug metabolites and target identification, quantitative structure-activity relationships, teratology, electrophysiology, animal models

Plant biology

Genetic modification, gene expression, photosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, phytohormones, microscopy

Spectroscopy and Structural analysis

Crystallization, X-ray crystallography, NMR, mass spectrometry, atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy (including cryo-EM), FT infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, MALDI-TOF, surface-plasmon based resonance spectroscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, EPR (or ESR) spectroscopy

Synthetic chemistry

Synthesis of unnatural amino acids and peptides, synthesis of natural products and of their precursors, synthesis of catalysts, synthesis of bio-active compounds, reagent synthesis, synthesis of probes for small molecules, named chemical reactions, combinatorial approaches, general synthetic methods (Addition, amination, elimination, enzymatic, epoxidation, hydrogenation, hydroxylation, insertion, metathesis, oxidation, oxidative addition, photochemical, polymerization, radical, reduction, reductive elimination, substitution, thermal, transition metal catalyzed)