Efforts to eradicate polio globally have been under way for more than 35 years. The development of modified versions of a vaccine in current use now makes eradication a real possibility.

Genes in agricultural crops are usually fine-tuned through long periods of evolution and crop domestication. In a modern strategy to genetically improve crops, genome editing was used to rapidly develop a variant of a rice gene that shows promise for increasing the plant’s resistance to several diseases.

In the first phase of its project to produce a genome reference that represents the genetic diversity of the people of China, the Chinese Pangenome Consortium analyse genomic sequences from 58 individuals representing 36 minority ethnic groups in China. The data capture genomic variability that is not currently reflected in human reference genomes.

The synthesis of high-entropy alloy nanoparticles (HEA-NPs) — small particles each containing multiple principal metal elements — typically requires extreme conditions to ensure adequate mixing of constituents. Innovative experiments show that the liquid metal can act as a mixing reservoir to facilitate the synthesis of a diverse range of such nanoparticles in mild conditions.