Featured
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Article |
RNA nucleation by MSL2 induces selective X chromosome compartmentalization
Dosage compensation in Drosophila involves nucleation of the dosage compensation complex at the X chromosome by MSL2 and the non-coding RNA roX.
- Claudia Isabelle Keller Valsecchi
- , M. Felicia Basilicata
- & Asifa Akhtar
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Technology Feature |
How DIY technologies are democratizing science
Open science and 3D printing are making it easier than ever for researchers to embrace do-it-yourself lab tools.
- Sandeep Ravindran
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Article |
Neuronal diversity and convergence in a visual system developmental atlas
The neuronal diversity of the Drosophila optic lobe is described throughout pupal development by single-cell sequencing, leading to the discovery of transient extrinsic neurons and a dorsoventral asymmetry of the visual circuits.
- Mehmet Neset Özel
- , Félix Simon
- & Claude Desplan
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Technology Feature |
Studying life at the extremes
Researchers have invented methods to study microbes that thrive in the world’s most inhospitable environments.
- Amber Dance
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News & Views |
Cryo-electron microscopy reaches atomic resolution
A structural-biology technique called cryo-electron microscopy has attained the ability to locate individual atoms within a protein. What are the implications of this advance?
- Mark A. Herzik Jr
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Article |
Epigenetic therapy induces transcription of inverted SINEs and ADAR1 dependency
Inverted-repeat Alu elements are the main source of drug-induced immunogenic double-stranded RNAs, which are destabilized by the RNA deaminase ADAR1, thereby limiting activation of the immune response.
- Parinaz Mehdipour
- , Sajid A. Marhon
- & Daniel D. De Carvalho
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Article |
Atomic-resolution protein structure determination by cryo-EM
Advances in electron cryo-microscopy allow the structure of apoferritin to be determined at a resolution that enables the visualization of individual atoms.
- Ka Man Yip
- , Niels Fischer
- & Holger Stark
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Article |
DNA mismatches reveal conformational penalties in protein–DNA recognition
A high-throughput assay that introduces mismatched base pairs into the DNA sequence shows that mismatches can increase transcription factor binding affinity by prepaying some of the energetic cost of distorting the DNA.
- Ariel Afek
- , Honglue Shi
- & Raluca Gordân
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Technology Feature |
Probing fine-scale connections in the brain
Artificial intelligence and improved microscopy make it feasible to map the nervous system at ever-higher resolution.
- Esther Landhuis
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News |
COVID sniffer dogs, cave bear and corals — September’s best science images
The month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team.
- Emma Stoye
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Outlook |
Making radiation oncology more personal
The technology to fine-tune radiotherapy to an individual is here, but a lack of research is holding back its use.
- Amanda B. Keener
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News Round-Up |
Unsustainable charcoal, COVID spreads on plane and antibody cocktails
The latest science news, in brief.
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Article |
Conformation of sister chromatids in the replicated human genome
Modified chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) technology is used to characterize the interactions between sister chromatids, despite their identical DNA sequences.
- Michael Mitter
- , Catherina Gasser
- & Daniel W. Gerlich
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Article |
Light-driven post-translational installation of reactive protein side chains
A wide range of side chains are installed into proteins by addition of photogenerated alkyl or difluroalkyl radicals, providing access to new functionality and reactivity in proteins.
- Brian Josephson
- , Charlie Fehl
- & Benjamin G. Davis
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News |
Microscopy illuminates charcoal’s sketchy origins
A large volume of charcoal sold in Europe comes from tropical forests and is often incorrectly labelled, raising questions about whether it was logged illegally.
- Aisling Irwin
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Article |
Red blood cell tension protects against severe malaria in the Dantu blood group
The rare blood group Dantu is known to protect against severe malaria, and a mechanism is proposed here: Dantu red blood cells have a high membrane tension that prevents invasion by malaria parasites.
- Silvia N. Kariuki
- , Alejandro Marin-Menendez
- & Julian C. Rayner
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News Round-Up |
Modified mosquitoes, CRISPR baby risks and a COVID-19 drug
The latest science news, in brief.
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Technology Feature |
When antibodies mislead: the quest for validation
Research antibodies don’t always do what it says on the tin. Test for true signals before you start your experiment.
- Monya Baker
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News |
‘CRISPR babies’ are still too risky, says influential panel
The safety and efficacy of genome editing in human embryos hasn’t been proven, researchers warn.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article |
Genetic and functional insights into the fractal structure of the heart
A genome-wide association study shows that myocardial trabeculae are an important determinant of cardiac performance in the adult heart, identifies conserved pathways that regulate structural complexity and reveals the influence of trabeculae on the susceptibility to cardiovascular disease.
- Hannah V. Meyer
- , Timothy J. W. Dawes
- & Declan P. O’Regan
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Article |
Structural basis for dimerization quality control
Structural studies of the dimerization quality control E3 ubiquitin ligase SCF–FBXL17 indicate that its selectivity for aberrant complex formation is based on recognizing both shape and complementarity of interacting domains.
- Elijah L. Mena
- , Predrag Jevtić
- & Michael Rape
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Article |
Position-specific oxidation of miR-1 encodes cardiac hypertrophy
The 8-oxoguanine modification of the microRNA miR-1 results in redirected recognition and silencing of target genes and leads to cardiac hypertrophy in mice.
- Heeyoung Seok
- , Haejeong Lee
- & Sung Wook Chi
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Research Highlight |
A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
The creation of spotless cephalopods hints that squid could make a good model organism for applying CRISPR to brain research.
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Article
| Open AccessLandscape of cohesin-mediated chromatin loops in the human genome
A map of cohesin-mediated chromatin loops in 24 types of human cells identifies loops that show cell-type-specific variation, indicating that chromatin loops may help to specify cell-specific gene expression programs and functions.
- Fabian Grubert
- , Rohith Srivas
- & Michael Snyder
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Research Highlight |
Huge virus’s mini-enzymes boost CRISPR’s powers
The viruses called Biggiephages harbour compact enzymes that can target a broad range of DNA sequences.
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Editorial |
Mitochondrial genome editing: another win for curiosity-driven research
A promising biomedical tool began life as part of efforts to answer a different question.
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Article |
Ageing hallmarks exhibit organ-specific temporal signatures
Bulk RNA sequencing of organs and plasma proteomics at different ages across the mouse lifespan is integrated with data from the Tabula Muris Senis, a transcriptomic atlas of ageing mouse tissues, to describe organ-specific changes in gene expression during ageing.
- Nicholas Schaum
- , Benoit Lehallier
- & Tony Wyss-Coray
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News |
Pangolin protectors, an inflatable lab and young stars — June’s best science images
The month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team.
- Emma Stoye
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News |
Scientists make precise gene edits to mitochondrial DNA for first time
Weird enzyme enables researchers to study — and potentially treat — deadly diseases.
- Heidi Ledford
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: In vivo quantification of mitochondrial membrane potential
- Milica Momcilovic
- , Orian Shirihai
- & David B. Shackelford
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Article |
A bacterial cytidine deaminase toxin enables CRISPR-free mitochondrial base editing
An interbacterial toxin that catalyses the deamination of cytidines within double-stranded DNA forms part of a CRISPR-free, RNA-free base editing system that enables manipulation of human mitochondrial DNA.
- Beverly Y. Mok
- , Marcos H. de Moraes
- & David R. Liu
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Article |
Physiological blood–brain transport is impaired with age by a shift in transcytosis
Tagging and tracking the blood plasma proteome as a discovery tool reveals widespread endogenous transport of proteins into the healthy brain and the pharmacologically modifiable mechanisms by which the brain endothelium regulates this process with age.
- Andrew C. Yang
- , Marc Y. Stevens
- & Tony Wyss-Coray
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Outlook |
MiWEndo Solutions: using microwave technology to improve colonoscopies
An innovative medical device for spotting colorectal cancer sees company shortlisted for The Spinoff Prize.
- Charles Schmidt
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Outlook |
Caristo Diagnostics: taking a fresh look at CT scans
A different approach that could predict the risk of having a heart attack puts company on the shortlist for The Spinoff Prize.
- Benjamin Plackett
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Outlook |
Scailyte: simplifying difficult diagnoses
A firm that combines single-cell analysis and neural networks to identify biomarkers for rare diseases has made it on to the shortlist for The Spinoff Prize.
- Eric Bender
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Outlook |
Oxford Brain Diagnostics: turning MRI into a diagnosis tool for dementia
The firm behind the brain-imaging analysis is shortlisted for The Spinoff Prize.
- Simon Makin
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News |
CRISPR gene editing in human embryos wreaks chromosomal mayhem
Three studies showing large DNA deletions and reshuffling heighten safety concerns about heritable genome editing.
- Heidi Ledford
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Outlook |
The biologist on the hunt for extracellular ribosomes
A serendipitous finding led Juan Pablo Tosar to uncover the protein-making machinery outside cells — a discovery that has scientists rethinking fundamental assumptions.
- Roxanne Khamsi
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Article |
Dynamic RNA acetylation revealed by quantitative cross-evolutionary mapping
A method termed ac4C-seq is introduced for the transcriptome-wide mapping of the RNA modification N4-acetylcytidine, revealing widespread temperature-dependent acetylation that facilitates thermoadaptation in hyperthermophilic archaea.
- Aldema Sas-Chen
- , Justin M. Thomas
- & Schraga Schwartz
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Article |
Hidden neural states underlie canary song syntax
Neurons in the canary premotor cortex homologue encode past song phrases and transitions, carrying information relevant to future choice of phrases as ‘hidden states’ during song.
- Yarden Cohen
- , Jun Shen
- & Timothy J. Gardner
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Article |
The proteome landscape of the kingdoms of life
An advanced proteomics workflow is used to identify 340,000 proteins from 100 taxonomically diverse species, providing a comparative view of proteomes across the evolutionary range.
- Johannes B. Müller
- , Philipp E. Geyer
- & Matthias Mann
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Technology Feature |
The search for microbial dark matter
Researchers are developing technologies to find and grow microbes that biologists have struggled to culture in the lab.
- Amber Dance
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News |
Murder hornets, park robots and planet formation — May’s best science images
The month’s sharpest science shots — selected by Nature’s photo team.
- Emma Stoye
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News |
‘It opens up a whole new universe’: Revolutionary microscopy technique sees individual atoms for first time
Cryo-electron microscopy breaks a key barrier that will allow the workings of proteins to be probed in unprecedented detail.
- Ewen Callaway
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Article |
Insights into variation in meiosis from 31,228 human sperm genomes
Thousands of sperm genomes have been analysed with a new method called Sperm-seq, revealing interconnected meiotic variation at the single-cell and person-to-person levels, and suggesting chromosome compaction as a way to explain the relationships between diverse recombination phenotypes.
- Avery Davis Bell
- , Curtis J. Mello
- & Steven A. McCarroll
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News & Views |
Neuroimaging results altered by varying analysis pipelines
Seventy laboratories that analysed the same neuroimaging data each produced different results. This finding highlights the potential consequences of a lack of standardized pipelines for processing complex data.
- Martin Lindquist
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Outlook |
Research round-up: COPD
An imaging biomarker, nerve therapy and other highlights from clinical trials and laboratory studies.
- Simon Makin
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Technology Feature |
The software that powers scientific illustration
The web-based tool BioRender has become a staple of biomedical research drawings.
- Jeffrey M. Perkel
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News |
Worm brain, ocean giant and soothing Jupiter — April’s best science images
The month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team.
- Emma Stoye
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