Browse Articles

The realization of wafer-scale graphene electronics is envisaged to open up the route to the use of graphene in mainstream electronics. Hertelet al.take a step in this direction by fabricating a transistor with a SiC channel and graphene electrodes, with excellent performance up to megahertz frequencies.

Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) use their antennae for orientation during their autumnal migration. Guerra and colleagues differentially disrupt clock gene expression in each antenna and find that the individual outputs are integrated and processed to allow precise control of orientation behaviour.

Cell-penetrating peptides can be used to deliver nucleic acids and proteins to cells, however they lack selectivity. In this study, cell-penetrating peptides are generated that can selectively target tumour cells of different cellular origins and these may be useful in the treatment of cancer.

Gene-expression divergence produces phenotypic diversity, but the molecular basis for this is not clear. Here, a genome-wide study ofcis- and trans-regulation in Arabidopsisallopolyploids and their progenitors provides evidence for natural selection and epigenetic regulation during evolution and speciation.

Metal-organic frameworks are promising candidates for capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide. Chen and co-workers report a metal-organic framework that exhibits high uptake of carbon dioxide at ambient conditions, and is a potentially useful adsorbent for post-combustion carbon dioxide capture.

Phospholipase C is a signalling molecule with many cellular functions, but its physiological role at the organismal level is largely unknown. Kanemaruet al.show that phospholipase Cδ1 in the mouse epidermis influences interleukin and leukocyte concentrations in the blood.

Photonic crystal semiconductor lasers normally operate in a non-radiative mode, characterized by reduced losses but also low surface emission. Using graded photonic heterostructures, Xuet al. boost power extraction by forcing laser emission in a mode with higher radiation efficiency.

Majorana fermions—the particles renowned for being their own antiparticles—have been proposed as candidates for storing qubits for quantum computers. Sau and Das Sarma propose a method for creating stable Majorana fermions in an array of quantum dots.

Quantum communication promises important advances in information and communication technology, yet it suffers from alignment sensitivity. Here, an alignment-free approach is demonstrated using liquid crystal devices, allowing for broader applications, including satellites.

Molecular systems with rigid macrocyclic backbones self-assemble into synthetic nanopores that mimic the mass-transport characteristics of biological channels. Zhouet al. produce self-assembling hydrophobic nanopores that mediate highly selective transmembrane ion transport and highly efficient transmembrane water permeability.

Integration of ferromagnetic and semiconducting elements is important for future devices capable of both processing and storing information. Korenevet al. describe a novel spin-separation effect in a ferromagnet/semiconductor quantum well hybrid and show the optical readout of hysteresis loops.

In uteroelectroporation allows the labelling of specific populations of neurons in the developing mouse brain. The authors of this paper present a simple modification of this method that increases labelling efficiency and allows, for the first time, transfection of Purkinje cells in the rat cerebellum.

Vortex–charge duality is a model that has been proposed for describing the superconducting to insulator transition in disordered thin films. Mehtaet al. report experimental evidence for this duality in the two-dimensional electron gas that arises in LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃heterostructures.

The motor protein myosin-V transports cargo along actin filaments, but the biophysical mechanisms by which myosin-V generates force are unclear. Here, optical tweezers and a DNA handle are used to study the forces generated by myosin-V: the mechanism of force generation is found to depend on the load applied.

X-ray free-electron lasers offer a wealth of possibilities for future diffraction studies, but variations in successive pulses mean the wavefront is not well defined. Rutishauseret al. use grating interferometry to characterize the wavefronts shot to shot, both in situand under operating conditions.

The iron pnictides are a class of superconductors that have received widespread interest in recent years. By doping the prototypical material LaFeAsO with hydrogen, this study reveals the existence of a second superconducting dome at higher doping ranges, which arises due to orbital fluctuations.

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system protects prokaryotes from foreign DNA. Here, bacteriophage DNA containing mutations that can circumvent this response are shown to be incorporated into the CRISPR locus, allowing bacteria to remember previous infections in an adaptive manner.

Correlated electron oxide materials have rich phase diagrams with magnetic or electronic properties. Using a p-n junction configuration, Shenget al. explore the dielectric response of different phases in manganite thin films and uncover their dynamic transport properties.

Chiral metamaterials present interesting ways to manipulate and distinguish between different circular polarizations of light. Zhanget al. realize chiral metamaterials that exhibit photoinduced switching between left- and right-handed circular polarization interactions at terahertz frequencies.

Regulator of transcription 1, Rtr1, has been proposed to function as an RNA polymerase II phosphatase. Here, the lack of phosphatase activity in purified Rtr1 and the absence of an active site in the structure of the yeast protein suggest that Rtr1 does not dephosphorylate RNA polymerase II.