Reviews & Analysis

Genomic analyses of individuals living with HIV-1 revealed a region in chromosome 1 that is associated with reduced viral loads specifically in populations with African ancestry. This could point to much-needed therapeutic targets to address the global public-health crisis caused by HIV-1.

Reconstructions of past temperatures often portray the extended warm period known as the Medieval Climate Anomaly (ad 950–1250) as warmer than the current period. However, a set of wood-anatomy measurements from tree rings shows that the North European climate is much warmer today than it was during that time, underscoring the role of anthropogenic climate change in the region’s temperature variability.

The performance of next-generation batteries is closely linked to the shape of deposits of metallic lithium that form during charging. Experiments in ultrafast-charging batteries have now revealed that lithium intrinsically forms geometrically perfect 12-face polyhedra, independently of various factors that were long thought to affect the shape of lithium deposits.

To cause tuberculosis, the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis must obtain nutrients from host cells. This is facilitated at least in part by protein complexes known as transporters. The structure of one such transporter reveals how its constituent subunits assemble into a large complex that enables lipids to be transported into the bacterium.

Axolotls — aquatic salamanders with an exceptional regenerative ability — rapidly increase their production of proteins in response to wounds. An axolotl-specific evolutionary divergence in a key protein called mTOR might drive this protein response and thus the regenerative potential of these amphibians, with possible implications for improving healing in mammals.

Starvation causes levels of stress hormones called glucocorticoids to rise in the blood. The surge is driven by neuronal cells that produce a peptide called AgRP. These neurons do not excite glucocorticoid-regulating neurons directly, but instead silence neurons that usually constrain the activity of the body’s stress-response system.

Ancient DNA has enabled the reconstruction of two large genetic ‘family trees’ from a 6,700-year-old Neolithic burial site in France called Gurgy ‘Les Noisats’. The DNA data combined with other lines of evidence offer insights into biological relationships within the site and across a broader social and cultural context.

A common genetic variant of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex, a family of genes involved in the immune response, is associated with an absence of symptoms during SARS-CoV-2 infection. Previous exposure to cold viruses seems to confer this immunity.

Protein sequences vary widely in their folding stabilities (the energetic favourability of folded compared with unfolded conformations), and protein alterations that affect stability have profound effects on evolution, health and disease, and biotechnological applications. An innovative method has made it possible to measure these stabilities on a massive scale, revealing evolutionary trends and opening up possibilities for machine learning.

How the protein p53 suppresses lung cancer, the most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide, has remained unclear. It has been found that p53 impedes the development of lung cancer by promoting a highly specific cell-differentiation program that is characteristic of normal tissue regeneration after an injury.

Samples from the surface of Jezero Crater on Mars have been analysed by the SHERLOC instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover. Signatures from these samples are consistent with the presence of organic molecules and, together with earlier measurements, could constitute the first in situ detection of organic molecules on another planet.

Extensive fieldwork reveals that island plants have similar functions to plants in other regions of the world, but that the island environment, along with biogeographical and evolutionary processes, filters the life-history characteristics and strategies of the plants, rendering the island flora functionally and ecologically distinct from others.

Retrotransposons are sequences of DNA in animal genomes that can replicate and reinsert themselves back into the genome. Experiments in flies and other model systems reveal that retrotransposons ‘hijack’ a DNA-repair pathway in host cells to produce circular DNA, enabling their replication and subsequent reinsertion into the genome.

MicroLED displays have advantages over commercially available technologies, but are difficult to put together efficiently. Agitating microLED chiplets and a substrate together in fluid causes them to self‑assemble quickly and with high yield.

Origami — the art of making various shapes from a single piece of paper — has been realized at the nanoscale using DNA. Sheets of ‘DNA wireframe paper’ have been developed that, through folding along crease lines, can be transformed into a range of target shapes in response to external stimuli.

Restricting dietary calories leads to weight loss, but with time these effects diminish because the body’s metabolism slows down. A hormone called GDF15 is now shown to maintain weight loss during dieting by promoting energy expenditure through the activation of pathways that affect calcium levels in skeletal muscle.

As the climate warms, the amount of atmospheric water vapour increases and the type of precipitation shifts towards more rain and less snow. These two mechanisms amplify the intensity of rainfall extremes in high-elevation regions by 15% per degree Celsius of warming, approximately double the previously reported rate.

The eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, which today is a major oxygen-deficient zone, or ‘dead zone’, was well oxygenated during the Miocene warm period about 16 million years ago. This finding supports model simulations suggesting that modern oxygen loss from the ocean might eventually reverse.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system and a common cause of chronic neurological disability in young adults. A systematic search identifies genetic variants associated with differences in severity and confirms resilience of the central nervous system to be an important determinant of outcome.

Surfaces that contain cholesterol, such as the skin of some invertebrates, can repel other molecules, preventing the adsorption of proteins and bacteria. Experiments, simulations and thermodynamic analyses show that this repulsive quality depends on cholesterol molecules rotating freely and switching their orientation.