News & Comment

Sex as a biological variable influences almost all aspects of health and disease, yet many research studies use only males or do not consider sex differences. We describe why sex-specific reporting is needed, including in basic and animal research, and we outline recommendations for sex-specific reporting in manuscript abstracts, Methods and Results sections, tables and figures.

Discovering that a different lab has reached similar findings to yours before publishing can be frustrating. But it does not have to be. Communication between labs might be the best way forward.

How to adjust metabolic rate (MR) in mice that differ in body mass and composition continues to lead to controversies. Here, the challenges that reside in the analysis of mouse MR are highlighted to spur consensus on the unequivocal use of regression-based analysis to maximize reliability and relevance of conclusions.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic brought the conference circuit to a standstill, virtual spaces were able to bring us together, albeit with less opportunity for social bonding. Taking clues from the technology and entertainment industries, virtual scientific conference organizers should offer a more meaningful social experience.

Diabetes therapeutic approaches continue to expand and to be refined. As the field moves toward more intensive insulin- and cell-based therapies, care must be taken to mimic healthy physiological insulin dynamics and avoid hyperinsulinemia, with its deleterious downstream complications.

Since the publication of its first issue in January 2019, Nature Metabolism has come a long way. Here, we reflect on watching our journal develop and grow, highlighting some of the important milestones on our journey.

The two most common tests for determining metabolic health in mice are the glucose tolerance test (GTT) and insulin tolerance test (ITT). GTTs and ITTs are inexpensive and easy to perform, but how they are conducted and interpreted can radically change their meaning.

Few technologies have changed the language and approach of biological research as dramatically and pervasively as single-cell technology, which has joined lipidomics, GFP, ChIP–seq and CRISPR–Cas in the pantheon of biotechnology. Here, we reflect on the influence of single-cell technology on metabolism research, some of which can be found in our new Collection on Single-cell technology in metabolism, featuring articles published in Nature Metabolism.

Some ‘species differences’ between mice and humans can be diminished simply by housing mice at warmer temperatures. Failure to strategically turn up the thermostat may undermine the translation of findings in mice to insights into human metabolic diseases.

The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched healthcare resources and caused severe knock-on effects on patients with metabolic diseases worldwide. We encourage clinicians and patient-interest groups in the field of diabetes and metabolism to raise their voices to ensure adequate care and admission of patients.

On the second anniversary of Nature Metabolism, we reflect on some of the developments at the journal against the backdrop of this extraordinary year.

The prevalence of COVID-19-associated diabetes is not the result of a single event but of a combination of disease susceptibility associated with chronic illness and COVID-19-specific mechanisms affecting metabolism. Whether a separate entity of post-COVID-19 diabetes, possibly associated with lasting β-cell damage, also exists is not yet clear.

Cell culture media are typically selected on the basis of common laboratory practices but have major effects on the validity, reproducibility and physiological relevance of the scientific findings. We provide arguments and quantitative examples of why choosing an appropriate cell culture medium matters, particularly in metabolic studies.

As the world came to a standstill in the spring of 2020, so did the work on our Focus issue on exercise metabolism and health, which was originally scheduled for publication to coincide with the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

Individual differences in physical performance in the sedentary state and in response to exercise training have been observed in rodent and human studies. The genomic variants underlying these genetic components are unknown. Nonetheless, without a rich genetic endowment, world-class athletic performance is out of reach.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has posed one of the greatest scientific challenges to our society in a century. The accompanying disruption will have a disproportionally large effect on the careers of early-stage investigators and will require concrete action to preserve a generation of scientists.

We have lost a distinguished biochemist who dedicated his career to the study of phosphatidylinositol signalling in metabolic regulation and to the advancement of lipidomics.

As the metabolism community has grown and diversified with scientists from multidisciplinary backgrounds, metabolic terminology has evolved and expanded. In this Comment, we reflect on this new vernacular and how established terminology can guide future discussions of metabolic research.