Reviews & Analysis

A team spanning two continents has identified a gut–nerve conduit that confers abdominal pain in mice. Responses to activation of this conduit reveal a striking sex difference that suggests that the circuit is chronically engaged in females, perhaps explaining the strong female bias in gut pain in humans.

Our sense of smell enables us to perceive a universe of odours. Cryo-electron microscopy has provided an atomic-resolution picture of how an odour molecule is recognized by one of the hundreds of odorant receptors encoded in the human genome, providing a first view into the chemical logic of olfaction.

Long-term sea-ice measurements from the Fram Strait reveal that the dominant form of Arctic sea ice shifted around 2007, from thick and deformed ice to thinner, more uniform ice. As a result of this shift, the proportion of thick, deformed ice fell by about half. It has not yet recovered, and this is expected to affect heat and momentum exchange in the region.

Cells in which the whole genome has been doubled do not upscale protein synthesis to cope with the increase in DNA. Instead, a shortage of proteins that regulate the packing of DNA in the nucleus leads to poor segregation of DNA structures, which eventually contributes to the development of cancer.

Gene expression and features of the DNA–protein complex chromatin were mapped together at high spatial resolution in tissue sections of the mouse or human brain. This spatially resolved technology enables the examination of the spatio-temporal dynamics and regulation of gene expression in complex mammalian tissues.

The structure and function of mitochondrial networks were analysed using a combination of approaches to generate detailed maps of these cellular organelles. This analysis revealed that the mitochondria in different subtypes of lung cancer show distinct functional and structural signatures.

The compatibility of a material with its environment is important for real-world applications. A framework has been developed to translate the amino-acid sequence of segments of proteins into engineered synthetic polymers, enabling the creation of ensembles of polymers with properties matching those of mixtures of proteins.

A group of neuronal cells in the airways have been shown to detect chemicals, called prostaglandins, that are produced by immune cells during infection with a respiratory virus. Once stimulated, the neurons relay this signal to the brain. Mice in which the function of these neurons is impaired show less sickness behaviour after influenza infection than do control animals.

The rates of germline mutations — genetic changes passed from parents to their offspring — have been estimated for 68 vertebrate animal species using a method involving mother–father–offspring trios. The analysis enables mutation rates between species to be compared on a large, evolutionary scale.

Tropical deforestation affects local and regional precipitation, but the effects are uncertain and have not been determined using observations. Satellite data sets were used to show reductions in precipitation over areas of tropical forest loss, with stronger reductions seen as the deforested area expands.

Global spatial and temporal patterns of coastal phytoplankton blooms were characterized using daily satellite imaging between 2003 and 2020. These blooms were identified on the coast of 126 of the 153 ocean-bordering countries examined. The extent and frequency of blooms have increased globally over the past two decades.

A physical phenomenon called quantum tunnelling is rare in chemical reactions, making it difficult to study theoretically and experimentally. The measurement of the tunnelling rate in a hydrogen reaction has enabled the verification of quantum-tunnelling calculations, providing a benchmark for testing future quantum calculations.

A system of ultracold rubidium atoms confined by two misaligned laser-beam arrays has been used to simulate remarkable structures called twisted-bilayer materials. The atomic technology exhibits phenomena such as superfluidity — the frictionless flow of atoms — typically observed in these materials.

For quantum computers to fulfil their potential, they need to detect and correct errors in encoded information to reach sufficiently low error rates for reliable operation. For the first time, a device has been created in which encoded error rates improve as the system size is increased.

In current stretchable electronic devices, connection points between modules are made using commercially available pastes and break easily under mechanical deformation. An innovative connection interface has been developed to enable robust stretchable devices to be reliably assembled in a Lego‑like manner by simply pressing the interfaces of two modules together without pastes.

The sodium–chloride cotransporter (NCC) is a protein dimer central to sodium handling by the kidney and is the target of an important class of drug for high blood pressure called thiazide diuretics. Structures of human NCC with and without a bound thiazide diuretic provide insights into NCC transport function and drug inhibition.

Silicon nanowires that can convert light into electricity were engineered to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. When integrated with co-catalysts and suspended in water, these light-activated nanoreactors produced hydrogen gas under visible and infrared light.

The cerebral cortex is the outer folded layer of the brain. It contains a population of neuronal cells that is dedicated to the representation of temperature. The activity of neurons in this ‘thermal cortex’ is different for warming compared with cooling, and is required for the perception of temperature.

The activity of two energy-producing metabolic pathways was recorded in different types of healthy tissue and solid-tumour tissue in mice. Comparisons of these measurements revealed that solid tumours make and use energy more slowly than do most healthy tissues, even though tumours grow and show cell division.

The rotation and movement of polar molecules in an ultracold gas are intertwined with each other through dipolar interactions between the molecules, giving rise to rich, tunable dynamics. This molecular platform could advance the understanding of electron-transport phenomena in condensed-matter systems and be used for quantum sensing.