A lattice of protein tetramers

A self-assembling 2D lattice protects replication of a bacterial virus

Some bacterial viruses enclose their replicating DNA in a protein-based ‘phage nucleus’. Nieweglowska et al. show that the structure is a lattice of tetramers linked by flexible loops and tails.

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  • Electrochemical CO2 conversion to methane offers a promising solution for the large-scale storage of renewable electricity, yet the catalytic selectivity at high current density still needs to be refined. Here the authors report to use both dissolved CO2 and in-situ generated CO2 from bicarbonate to sustain high local CO2 concentration around Cu electrode and thus achieve selective CO2 conversion to methane.

    • Cornelius A. Obasanjo
    • Guorui Gao
    • Cao-Thang Dinh
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Low-energy excitations of strongly correlated systems are described by the Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid theory. Here the authors employ Bragg spectroscopy to demonstrate a spin-incoherent Luttinger liquid in 6Li atoms using charge and spin excitations.

    • Danyel Cavazos-Cavazos
    • Ruwan Senaratne
    • Randall G. Hulet
    ArticleOpen Access

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  • Lung cancer screening could enhance early diagnosis and treatment. Here, the authors used proteomic analysis of pre-diagnosis samples across 6 cohorts to identify 36 proteins associated with imminent lung cancer diagnosis.

    • Demetrius Albanes
    • Karine Alcala
    • Wei Zheng
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Plasmodium knowlesi is a zoonotic malaria parasite that can infect humans, but whether human-mosquito-human transmission occurs is not known. Here, the authors use data from Malaysia and show, through mathematical modelling, that sustained non-zoonotic transmission is unlikely to be occurring in this setting.

    • Kimberly M. Fornace
    • Hillary M. Topazian
    • Chris Drakeley
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Coagulation factor VIII deficiency in hemophilia A disrupts clotting and prolongs bleeding. Here, the authors show that vagus nerve stimulation bypasses this defect and improves hemostasis in hemophilia A mice through a mechanism requiring acetylcholine-secreting ChAT+ T lymphocytes in spleen and α7nAChR on circulating platelets.

    • Carlos E. Bravo-Iñiguez
    • Jason R. Fritz
    • Jared M. Huston
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Graft-versus-leukemia reactions are required for the eradication of myeloid malignancies after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. However, treatment efficacy is variable, depending on the immunological response. Here the authors show that dysfunction of HLA heterogeneity is associated with post-transplant leukemia relapse.

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    • Carmelo Gurnari
    • Jaroslaw P. Maciejewski
    ArticleOpen Access

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  • The samples returned from near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu provide a pristine record of the 4.6 billion years since the birth of the Solar System. The Hayabusa2 initial analysis team has integrated a range of analytical techniques to investigate Ryugu’s organic chemistry. Here, we highlight their latest findings, the potential questions which may be answered, and provide an overview of new prospects in the decade to come.

    • Yasuhiro Oba
    • Yoshinori Takano
    • Hiroshi Naraoka
    CommentOpen Access
  • Identifying topological defects in disordered materials has a profound effect on predicting when and where the material will break. Matteo Baggioli comments a recent publication in Nature Communications, which confirms the existence of defects in glasses and their crucial role for plasticity.

    • Matteo Baggioli
    CommentOpen Access
  • Early detection of immunotherapy-induced tumor response is of major benefit for patients but can be complicated by therapy-induced pseudoprogression. A consensus guideline-iRECIST- was developed as a modification of Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST version 1.1). Here we describe which next steps are required to test its validity and how novel approaches for response criteria might be developed and included.

    • Elena Garralda
    • Scott A. Laurie
    • Elisabeth G. E. de Vries
    CommentOpen Access
  • Issues with data reuse have been recognized in synthetic biology and the broader scientific community. Policies and standards fall short as machine reasoning is not emphasised and enforcement is lacking. We discuss the progress, remaining challenges, and possible solutions.

    • Jeanet Mante
    • Chris J. Myers
    CommentOpen Access
  • Progress to reduce plastic pollution has been painfully slow and the consequent damage to the natural environment and to human health is likely to increase further. This has been because the views and ways of working of four distinct stakeholder communities are not sufficiently well integrated. (1) Scientists, (2) industry, (3) society at large and (4) those making policy and legislation must in future find ways to work together.

    • Richard S. Lampitt
    • Stephen Fletcher
    • Adrian Whyle
    CommentOpen Access
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Biotechnology and methods

Papers highlighted here represent a snapshot of some of the recent exciting work published in the area of bioengineering, genome engineering, metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, system and computational biology, cellular biotechnology and imaging, and therapeutic biotechnology.
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