Technology Feature |
Featured
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Article |
Spatial genomics enables multi-modal study of clonal heterogeneity in tissues
A technique using barcoded beads for DNA sequencing within tissue sections enables spatial resolution of tumour clonal heterogeneity and can be multiplexed with other analytical techniques for analysis of complex cellular phenotypes.
- Tongtong Zhao
- , Zachary D. Chiang
- & Fei Chen
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Research Highlight |
Nervous stomach: lab-grown organs clench like the real thing
The most complex stomach organoids yet are made with cells from three layers found in developing embryos.
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Technology Feature |
Python power-up: new image tool visualizes complex data
The image viewing and analysis software napari has filled a gap in the programming language’s scientific ecosystem.
- Jeffrey M. Perkel
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Article |
Multiview confocal super-resolution microscopy
A combination of multiview imaging, structured illumination, reconstruction algorithms and deep-learning predictions realizes spatial- and temporal-resolution improvements in fluorescence microscopy to produce super-resolution images from diffraction-limited input images.
- Yicong Wu
- , Xiaofei Han
- & Hari Shroff
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Technology Feature |
Artificial intelligence powers protein-folding predictions
Deep-learning algorithms such as AlphaFold2 and RoseTTAFold can now predict a protein’s 3D shape from its linear sequence — a huge boon to structural biologists.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Research Highlight |
Brightest X-rays on Earth expose COVID lung damage
Imaging technique can pick up micrometre-scale details of intact brains and other organs.
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Article
| Open AccessA chickpea genetic variation map based on the sequencing of 3,366 genomes
Whole-genome sequencing of 3,171 cultivated and 195 wild chickpea accessions is used to construct a chickpea pan-genome, providing insight into chickpea evolution and enabling breeding strategies that could improve crop productivity.
- Rajeev K. Varshney
- , Manish Roorkiwal
- & Xin Liu
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Technology Feature |
An expanding molecular toolbox untangles neural circuits
Scientists are developing ways to probe the activity, function and organization of neurons in real time with increasing precision.
- Esther Landhuis
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Article |
Striatal indirect pathway mediates exploration via collicular competition
Indirect striatal projection neurons in the basal ganglia modulate activity in the superior colliculus, thereby controlling selection and exploration of actions in response to a reward omission.
- Jaeeon Lee
- & Bernardo L. Sabatini
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News & Views |
From the archive
Nature’s pages feature efforts to ensure thermometer accuracy and offer some gardening advice.
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Technology Feature |
Refining the toolkit for sugar analysis
Antibodies and other reagents for glycans have lagged behind those for proteins and nucleic acids, but the field is catching up.
- Amber Dance
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Article |
AKIRIN2 controls the nuclear import of proteasomes in vertebrates
Using time-controlled CRISPR screens, the authors identify AKIRIN2 as a factor involved in the nuclear import of the proteasome.
- Melanie de Almeida
- , Matthias Hinterndorfer
- & Johannes Zuber
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Outlook |
Optics shine a light on dental imaging
Light can outperform X-rays in tooth examinations and avoids the use of ionizing radiation.
- Neil Savage
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News Feature |
The secret lives of cells — as never seen before
Cutting-edge microscopy techniques are allowing researchers to spy on the innards of cells in all their crowded glory.
- Diana Kwon
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News & Views |
A massive effort links protein-coding gene variants to health
The protein-coding portions of more than 450,000 individuals’ genomes have been sequenced, and analysed together with the individuals’ health data, revealing rare and common gene variants linked to various health-related traits.
- Yukinori Okada
- & Qingbo S. Wang
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News & Views |
Nanometre-scale imaging and AI reveal the interior of whole cells
Efforts to generate nanoscale-resolution images of cell interiors have gained ground through the development and refinement of a microscopy method. The data sets are publicly available as resources for further discoveries.
- Jason R. Swedlow
- & Lucy Collinson
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Research Highlight |
Defeating the genome’s guardians boosts a DNA-editing tool
A promising alternative to the CRISPR system works better when scientists shut down the target cell’s DNA repair systems.
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Book Review |
Synthetic biology — a call to meddle better
An expansive survey of the hopes and fears, hypes and fails of genetic manipulation.
- Gaia Vince
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News |
Chilean researchers unhappy following investigation of star neuroscientist
Committee found that University of Chile neuroscientist Claudio Hetz did not deliberately alter published images — but some researchers fear his practices set a poor precedent.
- Emiliano Rodríguez Mega
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Article |
Systems-level effects of allosteric perturbations to a model molecular switch
Interface mutations in the GTPase switch protein Gsp1 (the yeast homologue of human RAN) allosterically affect the kinetics of the switch cycle, revealing a systems-level mechanism of multi-specificity.
- Tina Perica
- , Christopher J. P. Mathy
- & Tanja Kortemme
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Article
| Open AccessThe cellular environment shapes the nuclear pore complex architecture
Structure of human nuclear pore complex in its cellular environment reveals a substantially dilated central channel and shows that its nucleoplasmic and cytoplasmic rings restrict channel dimensions and create membrane asymmetry at the inner ring.
- Anthony P. Schuller
- , Matthias Wojtynek
- & Thomas U. Schwartz
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Nature Video |
Cancer in 'nanocolour': a new type of microscope slide
New technology helps pathologist quickly diagnose cancers without the need for staining
- Sara Reardon
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News & Views Forum |
A census of cell types in the brain’s motor cortex
An atlas of the cell types found in the motor cortex of the brain has been built using various types of data. Two neuroscientists explain the technological feats involved in the project, as well as the utility of the resource for future research.
- Johan Winnubst
- & Silvia Arber
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Article |
An open-access volume electron microscopy atlas of whole cells and tissues
Open-access 3D images of whole cells and tissues with combined finer resolution and larger sample size are enabled by advances in focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy.
- C. Shan Xu
- , Song Pang
- & Harald F. Hess
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Article
| Open AccessSpatially resolved cell atlas of the mouse primary motor cortex by MERFISH
As part of the BICCN consortium, the authors used a single-cell transcriptomic imaging method to produce a highly defined atlas of cell types across the mouse primary motor cortex.
- Meng Zhang
- , Stephen W. Eichhorn
- & Xiaowei Zhuang
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Article |
Colorimetric histology using plasmonically active microscope slides
Colour contrast is added to unstained histological samples by using surface plasmon polaritons whose properties depend on the sample’s dielectric constant.
- Eugeniu Balaur
- , Sandra O’ Toole
- & Brian Abbey
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Article
| Open AccessStructural basis of gating modulation of Kv4 channel complexes
Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the voltage-gated potassium channel Kv4.2 alone and in complex with auxiliary subunits (DPP6S and/or KChIP1) reveal the distinct mechanisms of these two different subunits in modulating channel activity.
- Yoshiaki Kise
- , Go Kasuya
- & Osamu Nureki
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Technology Feature |
Single-cell proteomics takes centre stage
Deducing the full protein complement of individual cells has long played second fiddle to transcriptomics. That’s about to change.
- Jeffrey M. Perkel
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Research Highlight |
A CRISPR fix for muscles hatches from a viral shell
Scientists create millions of mutant viruses to find those that excel at ferrying genome-editing tools into muscle tissue.
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News Round-Up |
COVID research prizes, CRISPR-like enzymes and a face-mask trial
The latest science news, in brief.
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News |
Trove of CRISPR-like gene-cutting enzymes found in microbes
The search for a CRISPR enzyme’s ancestors has revealed more than one million potential genome-editing tools.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
COVID advances win US$3-million Breakthrough prizes
Pioneers of mRNA vaccines and next-generation sequencing techniques are among the winners of science’s most lucrative awards.
- Zeeya Merali
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Article |
Single-cell Ribo-seq reveals cell cycle-dependent translational pausing
Highly sensitive ribosome profiling of single cells at single-codon resolution enables identification of distinct cell cycle-dependent translational dynamic states in individual cells.
- Michael VanInsberghe
- , Jeroen van den Berg
- & Alexander van Oudenaarden
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Editorial |
License CRISPR patents for free to share gene editing globally
Universities hold the majority of CRISPR patents. They are in a strong position to ensure that the technology is widely shared for education and research.
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Correspondence |
Waive CRISPR patents to meet food needs in low-income countries
- John van der Oost
- & Louise O. Fresco
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Article |
The polar oxy-metabolome reveals the 4-hydroxymandelate CoQ10 synthesis pathway
18O2 labelling is used to identify metabolites in human cells that incorporate gaseous oxygen, including 4-hydroxymandelate, an intermediate in the synthesis of the coenzyme Q10 head group.
- Robert S. Banh
- , Esther S. Kim
- & Michael E. Pacold
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Article
| Open AccessRecA finds homologous DNA by reduced dimensionality search
Observations of rapid repair of double-stranded DNA breaks in sister choromosomes in Escherichia coli are consistent with a reduced-dimensionality-search model of RecA-mediated repair.
- Jakub Wiktor
- , Arvid H. Gynnå
- & Johan Elf
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Article |
Clonal dynamics in early human embryogenesis inferred from somatic mutation
Adult human tissues from diverse sites around the body are used to reconstruct cellular phylogenies from early development, using somatic mutations as an internal barcode.
- Seongyeol Park
- , Nanda Maya Mali
- & Young Seok Ju
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News |
Autocorrect errors in Excel still creating genomics headache
Despite geneticists being warned about spreadsheet problems, 30% of published papers contain mangled gene names in supplementary data.
- Dyani Lewis
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News & Views |
A microscopy technique that images single reaction events in total darkness
Single photons emitted from individual electrochemically excited molecules in solution can now be detected. The technique can be used to image cells at nanometre resolution, without using an external light source.
- Frédéric Kanoufi
- & Neso Sojic
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Technology Feature |
The hunt for red fluorescent proteins
By pushing fluorescent proteins further into the red, bioengineers are expanding the palette and penetration depth of biological imaging.
- Amber Dance
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Article
| Open AccessHighly accurate protein structure prediction for the human proteome
AlphaFold is used to predict the structures of almost all of the proteins in the human proteome—the availability of high-confidence predicted structures could enable new avenues of investigation from a structural perspective.
- Kathryn Tunyasuvunakool
- , Jonas Adler
- & Demis Hassabis
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Article |
A metabolomics pipeline for the mechanistic interrogation of the gut microbiome
A microbiome-focused metabolomics pipeline and interactive metabolomics profile explorer are a powerful tool for the characterization of gut-resident microorganisms and the interactions between microorganisms and their host.
- Shuo Han
- , Will Van Treuren
- & Justin L. Sonnenburg
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News |
Landmark CRISPR trial shows promise against deadly disease
Administering gene-editing treatment directly into the body could be a safe and effective way to treat a rare, life-threatening condition.
- Heidi Ledford
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News & Views |
Ion dynamics in battery materials imaged rapidly
An imaging method has been developed that tracks ion transport in functioning battery materials in real time, at submicrometre scales — offering insights into how to design batteries that charge in minutes.
- Aashutosh Mistry
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News Round-Up |
Mars selfie, Betelgeuse mystery and the impact of journal closure
The latest science news, in brief.
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Technology Feature |
Five trendy technologies: where are they now?
A look at notable research tools and projects that have rocketed to prominence reveals some common routes to success.
- Jyoti Madhusoodanan
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Article |
Dysregulation of brain and choroid plexus cell types in severe COVID-19
Single-nucleus transcriptomes of frontal cortex and choroid plexus samples from patients with COVID-19 reveal pathological cell states that are similar to those associated with human neurodegenerative diseases and chronic brain disorders.
- Andrew C. Yang
- , Fabian Kern
- & Tony Wyss-Coray
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Research Summary |
Base editor treats progeria in mice
A single dose of an adenine base editor shows promise in treating the ageing-related disease Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome. It corrected the LMNA mutation underlying the disease in patient-derived cells and improved cardiovascular health and lifespan in mice.
- Luke W. Koblan
- , Michael R. Erdos
- & David R. Liu
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