News & Comment

Probes and imaging finesse for a clearer view of tissue.

Both tried-and-true and new assays are helping labs to assess methylation at particular loci and from single cells.

New approaches expand the range and size of materials that can be inserted into a cell.

A growing research community studies autophagy—a process of cellular recycling and maintenance—but there are some hot-button methodological issues.

It's been a long wait for nanopore sequencing technology. Over 1,000 labs are testing the first commercial device and publishing results. Researchers tell Nature Methods about their experiences putting these early instruments through their paces. And more technology is in the works.

Genetically encoded voltage sensors are coming of age, but their use still poses challenges that must be addressed from multiple angles.

A number of techniques address the location of proteins within cells.

Large-scale phenotyping is generating much data that geneticists can harness. Amid the excitement about the possibilities, there are some points of caution.

Measuring how much a fruit fly eats opens the door to studies of metabolism and aging. But the assays are hotly debated.

Data integration and tool interoperability can ease analyses of cancer 'omics data and yield surprises.

Blinking and photobleaching of fluorophores cause challenges in a whole range of imaging experiments. Here are some ways researchers are approaching fluorophore photostability.

Moving and sorting cells with sound are a few of the possible applications for this no-contact technique.

Tissue samples scatter light and shut out a deeper gaze. Tissue-clearing agents have changed that, but scientists must consider optimizing the optics when using these methods.

Electrodes and electrode arrays to record from neurons come in an increasing number of shapes and sizes, and engineers are continuously adding capabilities.

Efficiently cutting a target sequence to effect a desired change in the genome is one gene-editing task. Knowing where else in the genome a tool might have made its mark is quite another.

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) offer opportunities beyond classic X-ray crystallography, particularly for proteins that are difficult to crystallize.

Managing, sharing and controlling the quality of plasmids can be simple. But many techniques to disseminate them do not scale, which leads nonprofits and companies to explore new options.