Reviews & Analysis

Ketamine is associated with rapid antidepressant effects and temporary dissociative experiences, and this review examines whether these dissociative symptoms are necessary for antidepressant efficacy. Although the current literature does not support this relationship, further work is needed to explore possible associations at the molecular, biomarker, and psychological levels.

A key security challenge with biosecurity threats is determining the responsible actor. In this Perspective, the authors review recent developments in using genetic sequence to assign a lab-of-origin and the potential protection it provides against misuse of synthetic biology.

Large-scale meat production can have negative impacts on public health, the environment and animal welfare. In this Review, the authors consider plant-based and cell-based approaches to meat production and the challenges they face.

Many fluid biomarker findings have had low reproducibility despite initially promising results. Here, the authors review possible sources for low reproducibility of studies on fluid biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases and suggest guidelines for the biomarker community to agree on and implement.

Maria Antfolk and Kim Jensen discuss how to model intestinal epithelial cell function in the dish and how various physiologically important environmental conditions, for example, extracellular matrix, pressure and flow, can be modelled and how this is applicable to clinical work.

A better understanding of how plants respond to osmotic stress could potentially help improve crop yields. Here Fàbregas et al. review the recent characterization of Raf-like kinases that act in both in ABA-dependent and -independent responses to osmotic stress.

Advances in our ability to manipulate genetics leads to deeper understanding of biological systems. In this Perspective, the authors argue that synthetic genomics facilitates complex modifications that open up new areas of research.

The IMEx consortium provides one of the largest resources of curated, experimentally verified molecular interaction data. Here, the authors review how IMEx evolved into a fundamental resource for life scientists and describe how IMEx data can support biomedical research.

Histone H2A monoubiquitination on lysine 119 in vertebrate and lysine 118 in Drosophila (H2Aub) is an epigenomic mark usually associated with gene repression by Polycomb group factors. Here the authors review the current knowledge on the deposition and removal of H2Aub, its function in transcription and other DNA-associated processes as well as its relevance to human disease.

Supported atomic clusters with precise nuclearity are intermediate states between single-atom catalysts and nanoparticles in size. Here the authors summarize and discuss synthetic strategies of supported atomic clusters with unique catalytic properties for heterogeneous reactions.

Marine aquaculture is widely proposed as compatible with ocean sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and human nutrition goals. In this Perspective, Belton and colleagues dispute the empirical validity of such claims and contend that the potential of marine aquaculture has been much exaggerated.

Marine microbial activities fuel biogeochemical cycles that impact the climate, but global models do not account for the myriad physiological processes that microbes perform. Here the authors argue for a model framework that reinterprets the ocean as physics coupled to biologically-driven redox chemistry.

Microbot delivery devices are the latest development in attempts to overcome the systemic toxicity associated with classical chemotherapy. Here, the authors review the recent progress in the field with a focus on the clinical translation and potential of the research and give a future perspective on this topic.

Discovering a sustainable route to ammonia as a fertiliser and as an energy carrier is critically important, but many recent reports on the electrochemical nitrogen reduction are false positives. Here the authors uncover the emerging experimental traps and detail protocols to reliably avoid them.

The accurate representation of data is essential in science communication, however, colour maps that visually distort data through uneven colour gradients or are unreadable to those with colour vision deficiency remain prevalent. Here, the authors present a simple guide for the scientific use of colour and highlight ways for the scientific community to identify and prevent the misuse of colour in science.

Oncogenic signalling has been historically associated with sustained cancer cell-intrinsic proliferation, however its role in promoting tumour immunoresistance has also become evident. Here, Hamarsheh and colleagues review and discuss the preclinical work on the immune modulatory effects of oncogenic KRAS and the potential clinical application.

Reducing soil degradation and improving soil management could make an important contribute to climate change mitigation. Here the authors discuss opportunities and challenges towards implementing a global climate mitigation strategy focused on carbon sequestration in agricultural soils, and propose a framework for guiding region- and soil-specific management options.

Plastic pollution is recognized as a global threat, but policy hurdles and a lack of effective plastic substitutes contribute to the problem. In this Perspective, the authors argue that an effective and sustainable path forward must rely on key restrictions and regulations optimized for impact and efficacy.

Non-model bacteria offer unique and versatile metabolisms for synthetic biology. In this Perspective, the authors explore the limited availability of well-characterised biological parts in these species and argue that bacteriophages represent a diverse trove of orthogonal parts.