Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Artistic representation of interconnected neurons at cellular resolution. With neuronal regeneration being extremely limited in the adult mammalian neocortex, one possible strategy to drive repair in the brain following injury is to utilize transplanted embryonic neurons. However, it is not known how well these neurons develop and integrate into established circuits in the adult. A study published in this issue of Nature uses two-photon microscopy and monosynaptic tracing to show that embryonic neurons transplanted into the visual cortex of adult mice can mature and achieve adult-like properties within four to eight weeks, receiving appropriate inputs and establishing sensory stimulus selective responses. Cover art by Ara Hacobian.
Focused grass-roots collaborations that start small and scale up could overcome technical and sociological barriers to 'big' neuroscience, argue Zachary F. Mainen, Michael Häusser and Alexandre Pouget.
The IPCC should supply policymakers with realistic regional projections of how the seas will respond to warming, write Daniela Schmidt and Philip W. Boyd.
A nanoscale imaging method that uses ultrashort light pulses to initiate and follow the motion of a single molecule adsorbed on a solid surface opens a window onto the physical and chemical dynamics of molecules on surfaces. See Letter p.263
In many mammals, the gene Ostn is expressed in muscles and bones. The discovery that the primate OSTN gene has been repurposed to also act in neurons provides clues to how humans evolved their cognitive abilities. See Article p.242
Expression of a blood-cancer-associated genetic mutation in the non-blood cells of the bone marrow is sufficient to cause blood cancer in mice. This finding could point to new approaches to treating an often-fatal disease. See Letter p.304
The discovery in 1936 that rats respond to various damaging stimuli with a general response that involves alarm, resistance and exhaustion launched the discipline of stress research.
Interactions between the magnetic dipoles of dysprosium atoms in an ultracold gas can produce a 'self-bound' droplet. This provides a useful isolated system for probing the quantum-mechanical properties of ultracold gases. See Letter p.259
Two monkeys subjected to a spinal-cord injury that paralysed one leg have regained the ability to walk, thanks to technology that re-establishes communication between the brain and spinal cord. See Letter p.284
The extinct Andreolepis, an early fish that is close to the common ancestor of all bony fish and land vertebrates, shed its teeth by basal resportion—the earliest example of this mode of tooth replacement.
Transplanted embryonic neurons in mice mature and achieve adult-like properties within 4–8 weeks, receiving appropriate inputs and establishing stimulus-selective responses.
Natural isolates of Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes differ in their sensitivity to the anti-exploratory pheromone icas#9, yielding two distinct foraging strategies that possess different survival advantages depending on environmental conditions such as food distribution.
Watching a single molecule move calls for measurements that combine ultrafast temporal resolution with atomic spatial resolution; this is now shown to be possible by combining scanning tunnelling microscopy with lightwave electronics, through a technique that involves removing a single electron from the highest occupied orbital of a single pentacene molecule in a time window shorter than an oscillation cycle of light.
The formation of carbon–carbon bonds is achieved via directed cleavage of traditionally non-reactive carbon–hydrogen bonds and their subsequent coupling with readily available alkenes.
About a third of the sediment delivery of the Mekong River is shown to be associated with rainfall generated by tropical cyclones, suggesting that future delta stability will be strongly moderated by changes to tropical cyclone intensity, frequency and track.
Warratyi rock shelter shows evidence of human occupation approximately 50,000 years ago, development of tool use and cultural innovation, and interaction with now-extinct megafauna in arid Australia.
In mice, glutamatergic globus pallidus neurons projecting to the lateral habenula (GPh neurons) bi-directionally encode positive and negative prediction error signals that are critical for outcome evaluation and are driven by a subset of basal ganglia circuits.
Mice with macrophages deficient in fatty acid synthase exhibit lower levels of diabetes-related insulin resistance and inflammation, qualities that are restored on addition of exogenous cholesterol.
Using a protocol that recapitulates both meiosis and oocyte growth in vitro, the authors induce mouse pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into fully functional oocytes that can be fertilized and generate viable offspring, thereby recapitulating the full mammalian female germline cycle in a dish.
Mutations in the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 affect cells in the bone marrow environment, which leads to aberrant activation of resident haematopoietic stem cells and thereby contributes to the development of leukaemia.
A single sentence summarizing your paper (websum), which will appear online on the table of contents and in e-alerts, has been provided below. Please check this sentence for accuracy and appropriate emphasis.