Review Articles in 2018

In this review, Aravin and colleagues examine bacterial and archaeal Argonaute proteins, discuss their diverse architectures and their possible roles in host defense, proposing additional functions for Argonaute proteins in prokaryotic cells.

Diagnosing fungal infections poses a number of unique problems. In this Review, Wickes and Wiederhold discuss molecular technologies used for fungal identification, and the problems associated with their development and implementation in today’s clinical microbiology laboratories.

Transcranial electrical stimulation techniques, such as tDCS and tACS, are popular tools for neuroscience and clinical therapy, but how low-intensity current might modulate brain activity remains unclear. In this review, the authors review the evidence on mechanisms of transcranial electrical stimulation.

Organic−inorganic metal halide perovskite solar cells possess high efficiency and low processing cost but suffer poor stability. Here Gao et al. review the recent progress on the 2D–3D mixed perovskites and suggest that greatly improved stability can be achieved without compromising the efficiency.

Facilitation is a well-known ecological interaction among free-living species, but symbionts residing in or on a host can also positively affect other symbiont species. Here, the authors review examples of facilitation among symbionts, revealing how facilitation theory can improve understanding of these interactions.

Short-lived three-dimensional submesoscale currents, responsible for swirling ocean color chlorophyll filaments, have long been thought to affect productivity. Current research suggests they may not be effective in enhancing phytoplankton growth, but may have important contributions to biodiversity.

Diane Bolton and colleagues review the impact of single-cell technologies on the study of host–pathogen interaction. They discuss the revolutionary impact these have had for facilitating a greater understanding of the properties of host cells harbouring infection, the pathogen-specific immune responses, and the mechanisms pathogens have evolved to escape host control.

Centromeres are the chromosomal domains that regulate assembly of the components required for chromosome separation. Here the authors review how centromeres are a potential source of genome instability and link centromere aberrations and rearrangements to human diseases such as cancer.

Polyelectrolytes are a class of macromolecules containing charged groups. Here the authors review properties and functions of metallo-polyelectrolytes to shed light on how to harness fundamental physiochemical properties for applications in biomedical sciences and advanced materials.

A variety of directional electronic transport phenomena can occur in materials with broken inversion-symmetry. Here, Tokura and Nagaosa review the underlying mechanisms and emergent phenomena of nonreciprocal responses in noncentrosymmetric quantum materials.

Research and debate are intensifying on complementing CO₂ emissions reductions with hypothetical climate geoengineering techniques. Here, the authors assess their potentials, uncertainties and risks, and show that they cannot yet be relied on to significantly contribute to meeting the Paris Agreement temperature goals.

Active matter systems are made up of self-driven components which extract energy from their surroundings to generate mechanical work. Here the authors review the subfield of active nematics and provide a comparison between theoretical findings and the corresponding experimental realisations.

Accelerated global warming in the Arctic might have profound impacts on mid-latitude weather particularly in winter, although the evidence for an effect also in summer is also growing. Here Coumou et al. show that these interactions could lead to more persistent hot-dry extremes in mid-latitudes.

Gut microbial metabolites are known to impact many physiological processes of the host and play a critical role in immune-homeostasis. Here the authors review our current understanding and appreciation of the importance of microbially derived tryptophan catabolites during both health and disease.

Targeting DNA repair-deficient tumors is one of the most promising therapeutic strategies in cancer research; however, accurately predicting which tumors will respond can be a challenge. Here the authors present a review of the current state of knowledge in DNA repair deficiency across human cancers.

Inflammation is a component of many chronic inflammatory diseases and yet it is understudied in medicine. Here, the authors review novel insights in to inflammation and how impairment of its resolution can lead to diseases.

Eruptive styles at a single volcano may transition from explosive to effusive behaviour (or vice versa) at any given time. This review examines the underlying controls on eruptive styles such as magma viscosity, degassing and conduit geometry at volcanoes with silicic compositions.

Excitons, quasi-particles of tightly bound electron-hole pairs, dominate the optical response of atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides. Here, the authors review strong light-matter coupling in two-dimensional semiconductors arising from confined excitons interacting with trapped photons or localized plasmons.

Metal dissolution from atmospheric aerosol deposition plays an important role in enhancing and inhibiting phytoplankton growth and community structure. Here, the authors review the impacts of trace metal leaching from natural and anthropogenic aerosols on marine microorganisms over short and long timescales.