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| Open AccessRecombination between heterologous human acrocentric chromosomes
Comparisons within the human pangenome establish that homologous regions on short arms of heterologous human acrocentric chromosomes actively recombine, leading to the high rate of Robertsonian translocation breakpoints in these regions.
- Andrea Guarracino
- , Silvia Buonaiuto
- & Erik Garrison
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News |
Wuhan market samples fail to shed further light on COVID origins
New analysis of genomic data from market swabs highlights their limitations.
- Dyani Lewis
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News Feature |
GISAID in crisis: can the controversial COVID genome database survive?
The most popular repository for sharing SARS-CoV-2 sequence data has come under increasing scrutiny. Scientists and funders around the world must now consider what lies ahead for the open sharing of genome data.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
Prehistoric pendant’s DNA reveals the person who held it
An innovative method reveals that an ancient trinket was handled by a woman some 20,000 years ago.
- Elissa Welle
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Correspondence |
African American genomes don’t capture Africa’s genetic diversity
- Segun Fatumo
- & Ananyo Choudhury
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Career Column |
Why it’s worth making computational methods easy to use
Jean Fan and her team launched a digital campaign using YouTube, GitHub and blogs to make a computational-biology tool accessible to all. Here’s what they learnt.
- Jean Fan
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News |
Huge cache of mammal genomes offers fresh insights on human evolution
The Zoonomia Project is helping to pinpoint genes responsible for animal-brain size and for human disease.
- Max Kozlov
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Editorial |
The gene-therapy revolution risks stalling if we don’t talk about drug pricing
Regulation and new intellectual property laws are needed to reduce the cost of gene-editing treatments and fulfil their promise to improve human health.
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News |
‘Truly gobsmacked’: Ancient-human genome count surpasses 10,000
The majority of sequences come from people who lived in Western Eurasia, but samples from other regions are on the rise.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
Genetic map of Tasmanian devil cancers hints at their future evolution
Most detailed analysis yet pinpoints the contagious tumours’ origins.
- Gemma Conroy
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Nature Podcast |
A smarter way to melt down plastics?
Repeated flash-heating provides a new way to depolymerize plastics, and the latest from the Nature Briefing.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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Technology Feature |
Every base everywhere all at once: pangenomics comes of age
Multi-genome assemblies called pangenomes can capture genetic diversity in a species, but researchers are still working out how best to build and explore them.
- Michael Eisenstein
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News |
How a rural school teacher became a top COVID sleuth
A self-taught Indiana man is among a cadre of community scientists who scour the SARS-CoV-2 genome for problematic mutations.
- Max Kozlov
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News & Views |
Africa-led group generates lablab crop genome
Lablab is a key crop in the tropics. A high-quality genome sequence for the plant, produced in Kenya, provides insights that could boost breeding programmes and pave the way for more African crops to be sequenced in African laboratories.
- Damaris A. Odeny
- & Molly A. Okoth
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News |
Ageing studies in five animals suggest how to reverse decline
Smoothing the speed bumps in an important cellular pathway seems to be implicated in ageing.
- Gemma Conroy
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News & Views |
Genome reveals how the skate got its wings
Genome sequencing, combined with methods for deducing how genomic regions interact, have now provided insight into how the wings that give skates and rays their characteristic shapes evolved more than 200 million years ago.
- Chris Amemiya
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Article
| Open AccessThe little skate genome and the evolutionary emergence of wing-like fins
Skate-specific changes in the epigenome and its three-dimensional organization contributed to the evolution of the batoid fin morphology.
- Ferdinand Marlétaz
- , Elisa de la Calle-Mustienes
- & José Luis Gómez-Skarmeta
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Research Highlight |
Hello, baby: genes involved in timing of birth are identified
Some genes that influence the length of a pregnancy also hold sway over fetal growth rates.
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News |
Ancient DNA illuminates Swahili culture’s origins
Genomes uncovered from centuries-old East African towns revise conclusions of colonial science.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
COVID-origins report sparks debate over major genome hub GISAID
GISAID revoked researchers’ access following the report, sparking discussion about findings based on data found in online repositories.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
Beethoven’s cause of death revealed from locks of hair
Genetic sleuthing points to liver disease, viral hepatitis and alcohol consumption as causes of the composer’s demise.
- Dyani Lewis
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News |
COVID-origins study links raccoon dogs to Wuhan market: what scientists think
Some say the analysis supports the hypothesis that the virus that causes COVID-19 spilled over from an animal — but falls short of definitive proof.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Technology Feature |
How Latin America’s genomics revolution began — and why the field is under threat
The sequencing of two bacterial species created a legacy that could be at risk without further investment, warn the region’s genomic leaders.
- Carrie Arnold
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Obituary |
Paul Berg (1926–2023)
Biochemist who invented recombinant DNA technology.
- Errol Friedberg
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News |
Why CRISPR babies are still too risky — embryo studies highlight challenges
While society grapples with the social and ethical implications of heritable genome editing, technical obstacles still abound.
- Heidi Ledford
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News & Views |
Huge broad-bean genome could improve yields of an underused crop
A high-quality reference genome has been generated for the broad bean (also known as the faba or fava bean). The sequence could be used to identify ways to increase yield, improve pest resistance and more.
- Eric J. B. von Wettberg
- & Azalea Guerra-Garcia
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Article
| Open AccessThe giant diploid faba genome unlocks variation in a global protein crop
Using a high-quality chromosome-scale assembly of the faba bean genome, the genetic basis of seed size and hilum colour is explored.
- Murukarthick Jayakodi
- , Agnieszka A. Golicz
- & Stig Uggerhøj Andersen
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News |
What Chernobyl’s stray dogs could teach us about radiation
Multi-year project in Ukraine aims to uncover the health effects of chronic radiation exposure.
- Freda Kreier
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News |
Beyond CRISPR babies: how human genome editing is moving on after scandal
Researchers will discuss advances in genome-editing technologies — and the ethics of deploying them — at a major international summit.
- Heidi Ledford
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News & Views |
The genomic history of ice-age Europeans
An extensive genomic time series has been produced for 356 humans from across ice-age Europe. The data reveal how climate change affected the ranges of hunter-gatherer populations as they developed diverse cultures.
- Ludovic Orlando
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News |
Ancient genomes show how humans escaped Europe’s deep freeze
A pair of studies offer the most detailed look yet at groups of hunter-gatherers living before, during and after the last ice age.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
Did flu come from fish? Genetics points to influenza’s aquatic origin
Corals, sturgeon and other aquatic creatures harbour signs of infection by influenza and its distant relatives.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
Was famed poet Pablo Neruda poisoned? Scientists warn case not closed
Forensic investigation uncovers evidence that a lethal bacterium could have been in his body when he died.
- Michele Catanzaro
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Technology Feature |
Innovative technologies crowd the short-read sequencing market
With a dizzying range of strategies available, laboratories must weigh up their options to find the best fit for their projects
- Michael Eisenstein
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessThe case for standardizing gene nomenclature in vertebrates
- Fiona M. McCarthy
- , Tamsin E. M. Jones
- & Elspeth A. Bruford
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessReply to: The case for standardizing gene nomenclature in vertebrates
- Constantina Theofanopoulou
- & Erich D. Jarvis
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News |
An abundance of antibiotics, and more — this week’s best science graphics
Three charts from the world of research, selected by Nature editors.
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News |
COVID drug drives viral mutations — and now some want to halt its use
Analysis reveals the signature of the antiviral drug molnupiravir in SARS-CoV-2 sequences riddled with mutations.
- Ewen Callaway
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Book Review |
How genetics unmasked the Golden State Killer — and the uncomfortable ethical aftermath
Barbara Rae-Venter’s account of her genetic sleuthing illustrates the power of technologies to bring criminals to justice. But should there be limits to their use?
- Brendan Maher
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Comment |
Could Africa be the future for genomics research?
Funds for a major genomics programme in Africa will run dry this year. A chance to address global inequity in health-related genomics by building on the success of this initiative must not be missed.
- Zané Lombard
- & Guida Landouré
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News & Views |
Bacterial defence repurposed to fight blight
The discovery of bacterial compounds that have antifungal properties opens up opportunities for the development of agents that protect crops from a devastating disease.
- Andrew Mitchinson
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Research Highlight |
Chickens’ DNA is fouling the genomes of their wild relatives
Genomes of red junglefowl, the wild birds that gave rise to domestic chickens, include genetic material from their farmyard cousins.
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Research Highlight |
Fossils reveal a big tortoise that once plodded island shores
A now-extinct species of large reptile lived on Madagascar, where its relatives still reside.
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Correspondence |
Honour genetic diversity to realize health equity
- Leonardo Mariño-Ramírez
- , Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable
- & I. King Jordan
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Research Highlight |
Huge genomic study shows varicose veins’ links to height and weight
Analysis of more than one million people suggests that roughly 16% of the condition can be attributed to genetic factors.
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Research Briefing |
Exploring the rapid evolution of the mammalian testis
The mammalian testis is a rapidly evolving organ, in both structural and molecular terms. An investigation of testicular cell nuclei from 11 species has unveiled genes, cell types and evolutionary forces that underlie these changes.
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News |
COVID spurs boom in genome sequencing for infectious diseases
From dengue to Ebola, laboratories in Asia and Africa are using sequencing technology and skills acquired during the pandemic to track endemic diseases quickly.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Technology Feature |
Which single-cell analysis tool is best? Scientists offer advice
In the fast-paced field of single-cell biology, studies that compare methods can help scientists to pick the right technique for their research.
- Amber Dance
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Research Briefing |
DNA reveals that mastodons roamed a forested Greenland two million years ago
Ancient environmental DNA from northern Greenland opens a new chapter in genetic research, demonstrating that it is possible to track the ecology and evolution of biological communities two million years ago. The record shows an open boreal-forest ecosystem inhabited by large animals such as mastodons and reindeer.