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.
Disease-causing microorganisms can invade plants through leaf pores called stomata, which close rapidly in a calcium-dependent manner on detecting such danger. The calcium channels involved have now finally been identified.
The LifeTime initiative is an ambitious, multidisciplinary programme that aims to improve healthcare by tracking individual human cells during disease processes and responses to treatment in order to develop and implement cell-based interceptive medicine in Europe.
Contradictory values for the masses of atomic nuclei have cast doubt on the reliability of these widely used quantities. A new mass measurement of the deuteron, the second-simplest atomic nucleus, clarifies the situation.
A light-sensitive receptor protein expressed in neurons deep in the mouse brain has been shown to be stimulated by violet light, and to activate a pathway that reduces heat production in brown fat.
Volumes of fluid have previously been made to float above air by vibrating the air–fluid system vertically. It now emerges that an ‘antigravity’ effect enables objects to float upside down on the air–fluid interface.
Yeast has been engineered to convert simple sugars and amino acids into drugs that inhibit a neurotransmitter molecule. The work marks a step towards making the production of these drugs more reliable and sustainable.
Skin cancers resulting from distinct mutations have characteristic tissue forms and different disease outcomes. Analysing the architecture of benign and aggressive tumours reveals how mechanical forces drive these patterns.
An ingenious combination of satellite imaging, machine learning and stress analysis has revealed the Antarctic ice shelves that are most at risk of disintegrating as a result of atmospheric warming.
Temperature determines the geographical distribution of plants and their rate of growth and development, but how they sense high temperatures to mount a response was unclear. Now a process underlying this responsiveness is known.
Tiny devices have been developed that can act as the legs of laser-controlled microrobots. The compatibility of these devices with microelectronics systems suggests a path to the mass manufacture of autonomous microrobots.
In a few people living with HIV, the virus remains under control without antiretroviral therapy. It emerges that, in these people, the viral DNA that is integrated into the host genome is in a deeply transcriptionally repressed state.
Filaments of keratin — stable protein polymers best known for their function in hair and nails — provide a memory of cell polarity at a crucial stage in early mouse development.
This Review explores the role of viscoelasticity of tissues and extracellular matrices in cell–matrix interactions and mechanotransduction and the potential utility of viscoelastic biomaterials in regenerative medicine.
A mutation in the C9orf72 gene is the most common genetic cause of two neurodegenerative diseases. A newly identified immunological function for the C9orf72 protein points to a potential therapeutic strategy for these diseases.
Diodes are devices that conduct electric current mainly in one direction. An electrically polar film that acts as a diode for superconducting current could lead to electronic devices that have ultralow power consumption.
A cellular condition called oxidative stress can kill cancer cells. The finding that skin cancer cells evade such destruction using lipids acquired while passing through lymphatic vessels reveals a mechanism that boosts cancer spread.
A molecule produced by the metabolism of proteins and fats has been found to accumulate in the blood of older people, and to endow cancer cells with the ability to spread from one site in the body to others.
It is unclear why people’s immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus varies so widely. Tracking patient responses over time sheds light on this issue, and has implications for efforts to predict disease severity.
Bacteria with two membranes must regulate the production of a surface molecule known as lipopolysaccharide. The structure of an essential signal-transduction protein now reveals how lipopolysaccharide controls its own synthesis.
Structures similar to closed-ended tunnelling nanotubes have now been seen connecting pericyte cells in the mouse retina. The structures enable pericytes to coordinate their responses to neural activity, thereby modulating blood flow.
