News & Views |
Featured
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News |
Mini-colon and brain 'organoids' shed light on cancer and other diseases
Tiny 3D structures made from human stem cells sometimes offer insights that animal models cannot.
- Sara Reardon
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Arts Review |
Las Boriqueñas remembers the forgotten Puerto Rican women who tested the first pill
Clinical trials of the first oral contraceptive recalled in a bold theatre production.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News & Views |
Bioengineered ‘mini-colons’ shed light on cancer progression
Cells grown on a 3D scaffold have generated a ‘mini-colon’ that mimics key features of the organ. Controlled expression of cancer-associated genes in the system offers a way to examine tumour formation over space and time.
- Nicolò Riggi
- & Felipe de Sousa e Melo
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News |
WHO redefines airborne transmission: what does that mean for future pandemics?
The World Health Organization was criticized for being too slow to classify COVID-19 as airborne. Will the new terminology help next time?
- Bianca Nogrady
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Article |
Chemoproteomic discovery of a covalent allosteric inhibitor of WRN helicase
VVD-133214, a clinical-stage, covalent allosteric inhibitor of the helicase WRN, was well tolerated in mice and led to robust tumour regression in multiple microsatellite-instability-high colorectal cancer cell lines and patient-derived xenograft models.
- Kristen A. Baltgalvis
- , Kelsey N. Lamb
- & Todd M. Kinsella
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Correspondence |
More work is needed to take on the rural wastewater challenge
- Jinlou Huang
- , Duo Li
- & Xiao Jin Yang
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News |
Monkeypox virus: dangerous strain gains ability to spread through sex, new data suggest
A cluster of mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo sparks worries of a wider outbreak.
- Max Kozlov
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Editorial |
Any plan to make smoking obsolete is the right step
The United Kingdom is correct to attempt to end the single largest preventable cause of illness and death, as was New Zealand before its government changed its mind.
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Where I Work |
How ground glass might save crops from drought on a Caribbean island
In Grenada, public-health researcher Lindonne Telesford tests a soil additive made from recycled glass that could help farmers adapt to climate change.
- Kendall Powell
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News |
How to freeze a memory: putting worms on ice stops them forgetting
The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans is quick to forget a notable odour — unless it is chilled or given lithium.
- Julian Nowogrodzki
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News |
Your perception of time is skewed by what you see
Features of a scene such as size and clutter can affect the brain’s sense of how much time has passed while observing it.
- Lilly Tozer
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News |
Do insects have an inner life? Animal consciousness needs a rethink
A declaration signed by dozens of scientists says there is ‘a realistic possibility’ for elements of consciousness in reptiles, insects and molluscs.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
Why queasiness kills hunger: brain circuit identified
Feelings of hunger, nausea and fullness seem to be governed by separate brain circuits, finds a study in mice.
- Gillian Dohrn
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Outlook |
AI’s keen diagnostic eye
Powered by deep-learning algorithms, artificial intelligence systems could replace agents such as chemicals currently used to augment medical scans.
- Neil Savage
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News Feature |
What toilets can reveal about COVID, cancer and other health threats
Wastewater testing grew tremendously during the pandemic. But is it ready to tackle the opioid crisis, air pollution and antibiotic resistance?
- Betsy Ladyzhets
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Spotlight |
Deadly diseases and inflatable suits: how I found my niche in virology research
Virologist Hulda Jónsdóttir studies some of the world’s most pathogenic viruses at the Spiez Laboratory in Switzerland.
- Nikki Forrester
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News & Views |
Coupled neural activity controls working memory in humans
How does the human brain temporarily store information without losing track of it? Neuroscientists have discovered that neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes work together to hold information in working memory.
- Ziv Williams
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News |
Smoking bans are coming: what does the evidence say?
Countries are cracking down on tobacco use and vaping — the laws could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars, say scientists.
- Carissa Wong
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News |
AI traces mysterious metastatic cancers to their source
Algorithm examines images of metastatic cells to identify the location of the primary tumour.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Nature Podcast |
Keys, wallet, phone: the neuroscience behind working memory
Brain areas work in tandem to temporarily store important information, and an aurora on a cool brown dwarf.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Noah Baker
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Analysis
| Open Access
Refining the impact of genetic evidence on clinical success
Human genetic evidence increases the success rate of drugs from clinical development to approval but we are still far from reaching peak genetic insights to aid the discovery of targets for more effective drugs.
- Eric Vallabh Minikel
- , Jeffery L. Painter
- & Matthew R. Nelson
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Correspondence |
It’s time to talk about the hidden human cost of the green transition
- Manuel Prieto
- & Nicolás C. Zanetta-Colombo
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News Feature |
Obesity drugs aren’t always forever. What happens when you quit?
Many researchers think that Wegovy and Ozempic should be taken for life, but myriad factors can force people off them.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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Technology Feature |
A milestone map of mouse-brain connectivity reveals challenging new terrain for scientists
A pioneering ‘connectomics’ collaboration has successfully reconstructed one cubic millimetre of brain tissue, but researchers are still just scratching the surface of the complexity it contains.
- Michael Eisenstein
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News |
Lethal dust storms blanket Asia every spring — now AI could help predict them
As the annual phenomenon once again strikes East Asia, scientists are hard at work to better predict how they will affect people.
- Xiaoying You
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Research Highlight |
Bitter taste receptors are even older than scientists thought
Discovery in sharks suggests that these sensory receptors date back to some 450 million years ago.
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News |
This fMRI technique promised to transform brain research — why can no one replicate it?
The DIANA technique sparked excitement from neuroscientists. But two new papers have cast doubt over the results.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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News Feature |
The rise of eco-anxiety: scientists wake up to the mental-health toll of climate change
Researchers want to unpick how climate change affects mental health around the world — from lives that are disrupted by catastrophic weather to people who are anxious about the future.
- Helen Pearson
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Research Briefing |
Genetic risk variants lead to type 2 diabetes development through different pathways
The largest genome-wide association study for type 2 diabetes so far, which included several ancestry groups, led to the identification of eight clusters of genetic risk variants. The clusters capture different biological pathways that contribute to the disease, and some clusters are associated with vascular complications.
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News & Views |
Blocking cell death limits lung damage and inflammation from influenza
Animals that receive an inhibitor of an antiviral cell-death response called necroptosis are less likely to die of influenza even at a late stage of infection. This has implications for the development of therapies for respiratory diseases.
- Nishma Gupta
- & John Silke
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News |
How to supercharge cancer-fighting cells: give them stem-cell skills
The bioengineered immune players called CAR T cells last longer and work better if pumped up with a large dose of a protein that makes them resemble stem cells.
- Sara Reardon
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Nature Podcast |
The ‘ghost roads’ driving tropical deforestation
Researchers find that a huge number of roads that don’t appear on official maps, and the protein that could determine whether someone is left-handed.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Benjamin Thompson
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Article |
Metabolic rewiring promotes anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids
Glucocorticoids reprogram the mitochondrial metabolism of macrophages, resulting in increased and sustained production of the anti-inflammatory metabolite itaconate and, as a consequence, inhibition of the inflammatory response.
- Jean-Philippe Auger
- , Max Zimmermann
- & Gerhard Krönke
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Correspondence |
Use fines from EU social-media act to fund research on adolescent mental health
- Christian Montag
- & Benjamin Becker
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Technology Feature |
‘Without these tools, I’d be lost’: how generative AI aids in accessibility
A rush to place barriers around the use of artificial intelligence in academia could disproportionately affect those who stand to benefit most.
- Amanda Heidt
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News Explainer |
Bird flu outbreak in US cows: why scientists are concerned
A virus that has killed hundreds of millions of birds has now infected cattle in six US states, but the threat to humans is currently low.
- Max Kozlov
- & Smriti Mallapaty
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Nature Podcast |
Audio long read: Why are so many young people getting cancer? What the data say
Researchers are scrambling to explain why rates of multiple cancers are increasing among adults under the age of 50.
- Heidi Ledford
- & Benjamin Thompson
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News |
Diabetes drug slows development of Parkinson’s disease
The drug, which is in the same family as blockbuster weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy, slowed development of symptoms by a small but statistically significant amount.
- David Adam
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Editorial |
Time to sound the alarm about the hidden epidemic of kidney disease
With rates rising around the world, public-health leaders must prioritize prevention, treatment, funding and data.
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Article
| Open Access
Ancestral allele of DNA polymerase gamma modifies antiviral tolerance
The POLG1 mutation p.W748S, which is associated with mitochondrial recessive ataxia syndrome, dampens innate immune responses by compromising mtDNA replisome stability, and this explains why a viral infection can trigger the development of the disease and contribute to its variable clinical manifestation.
- Yilin Kang
- , Jussi Hepojoki
- & Anu Suomalainen
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News |
mRNA drug offers hope for treating a devastating childhood disease
Drug trial results show that vaccines aren’t the only use for the mRNA technology behind the most widely used COVID-19 jabs.
- Elie Dolgin
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News Feature |
Why loneliness is bad for your health
A lack of social interaction is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and more. Researchers are unpicking how the brain mediates these effects.
- Saima May Sidik
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Article |
Interim analyses of a first-in-human phase 1/2 mRNA trial for propionic acidaemia
Interim data from a clinical trial of mRNA-3927—an mRNA therapeutic for propionic acidaemia—provide early indications of the safety and efficacy of the treatment, and suggest that this approach might be applicable to other rare diseases.
- Dwight Koeberl
- , Andreas Schulze
- & Stephanie Grunewald
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Correspondence |
Adopt universal standards for study adaptation to boost health, education and social-science research
- Dragos Iliescu
- & Samuel Greiff
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News Feature |
Long COVID still has no cure — so these patients are turning to research
With key long COVID trials yet to yield results, people with the condition are trying to change how clinical trials are done.
- Rachel Fairbank
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News |
‘Mini liver’ will grow in person’s own lymph node in bold new trial
Biotechnology firm LyGenesis has injected donor cells into a person with liver failure for the first time.
- Max Kozlov
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Research Highlight |
Green space near home has an antidepressant effect
People who had the most vegetation near their residences were the least likely to report depression and anxiety.
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Book Review |
The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?
The evidence is equivocal on whether screen time is to blame for rising levels of teen depression and anxiety — and rising hysteria could distract us from tackling the real causes.
- Candice L. Odgers
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Nature Video |
No sweat: Moisture-wicking device keeps wearable-tech dry
Breathable patch could allow for comfortable and multifunctional wearable electronics.
- Dan Fox
Targeting RNA opens therapeutic avenues for Timothy syndrome