Featured
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Book Review |
Enslaved people and the birth of epidemiology
Data on disease were mined from the grisly records of the transatlantic trade in people.
- Mary T. Bassett
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Research Highlight |
Long-sought structure of Pepto-Bismol decoded
Sugar-wafer-like layering could be key to how this antacid fights gastric discomforts.
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News Feature |
The brain-reading devices helping paralysed people to move, talk and touch
Implants are becoming more sophisticated — and are attracting commercial interest.
- Liam Drew
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News Feature |
Four lessons from the pandemic to reboot the NIH
From innovation to workforce diversity, scientists are eager for change at the world’s largest funder of biomedical research.
- Max Kozlov
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Perspective |
The Human Pangenome Project: a global resource to map genomic diversity
The Human Pangenome Reference Consortium aims to offer the highest quality and most complete human pangenome reference that provides diverse genomic representation across human populations.
- Ting Wang
- , Lucinda Antonacci-Fulton
- & David Haussler
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Article |
Generation of 3D lacrimal gland organoids from human pluripotent stem cells
Organoids originating from human multipotent ocular surface epithelial stem cells are similar to native lacrimal glands and undergo functional maturation when transplanted adjacent to the eyes of recipient rats, developing lumina and producing tear-film proteins.
- Ryuhei Hayashi
- , Toru Okubo
- & Kohji Nishida
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Research Highlight |
Ambitious trial inspires a rethink on a common ailment of pregnancy
The standard practice of treating only severe cases of high blood pressure during pregnancy might be misguided.
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News |
COVID vaccine plus infection can lead to months of immunity
Findings from Brazil, Sweden and the United Kingdom show that before the advent of Omicron, vaccination benefited even those who had had a bout of COVID-19.
- Saima May Sidik
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News |
African clinical trial denied access to key COVID drug Paxlovid
Supply shortages and limits on research leave low- and middle-income countries struggling to access Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral.
- Heidi Ledford
- & Amy Maxmen
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Outlook |
Hepatitis B
The fight against an infectious liver disease pivots from control to eradication.
- Herb Brody
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Outlook |
Research round-up: hepatitis B
Genomic jigsaws, timely vaccinations and other highlights from studies about hepatitis B.
- Jyoti Madhusoodanan
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Outlook |
Developing a cure for chronic hepatitis B requires a fresh approach
The prevailing dogma for drug development is insufficient; it’s time to recentre efforts around the immune system.
- Matteo Iannacone
- & Luca G. Guidotti
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Outlook |
Why hepatitis B hits Aboriginal Australians especially hard
Often geographically isolated and without access to good health care, Indigenous people have a higher chance of contracting the disease than do other populations. They’re also prone to a viral variant that has proved difficult to treat.
- Benjamin Plackett
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Outlook |
Hepatitis B and the liver cancer endgame
More than half of the world’s cases of liver cancer are due to viral liver infections. Detecting and treating hepatitis B could help to reverse the global increase in fatal liver cancer.
- Kristina Campbell
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Outlook |
Closing in on a cure for hepatitis B
Finite courses of treatment could get the virus under control — with the right combination of drugs.
- Elie Dolgin
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News & Views |
Genome doubling causes double trouble
Human cancer cells often double their genome through an error in cell division, and this can lead to further genomic instability. A detailed analysis of the first cell cycle after genome doubling sheds light on this phenomenon.
- Yonatan Eliezer
- & Uri Ben-David
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News & Views |
Cell position matters in tumour development
Skin cells called melanocytes are not equally affected by the same genetic changes. Their ability to form tumours has now been linked to gene-expression programs that are selectively activated according to a cell’s anatomical position.
- Jean-Christophe Marine
- & María S. Soengas
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News |
COVID antibody drugs work best when given as early as possible
Data from dozens of trials also suggest that antibody treatments could be given in much smaller amounts than current practice.
- Ewen Callaway
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News Feature |
The quest to prevent MS — and understand other post-viral diseases
Some people develop multiple sclerosis after an infection. Could a vaccine prevent that — and what does it reveal about the long-term effects of viruses?
- Asher Mullard
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News |
COVID vaccines: head-to-head comparison reveals how they stack up
Comparison of the immune response to four prominent COVID-19 vaccines is among the most thorough so far, authors say.
- Emily Waltz
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News |
Can drugs reduce the risk of long COVID? What scientists know so far
Researchers are trying to establish whether existing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments can prevent lasting symptoms.
- Heidi Ledford
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News & Views |
Mucus secretion blocked at its source in the lungs
Higher than normal secretion of mucin, a molecular component of mucus, is a feature of many lung diseases. The development of a peptide that blocks mucin secretion in airway epithelial cells might lead to therapies.
- Irina Gitlin
- & John V. Fahy
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News |
Morgue data hint at COVID’s true toll in Africa
Around 90% of deceased people tested at a Lusaka facility during coronavirus surges were positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection, suggesting flaws in the idea of an ‘African paradox’.
- Freda Kreier
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Article |
Immune regulation by fungal strain diversity in inflammatory bowel disease
Genetically diverse Candida albicans strains in patients with inflammatory bowel disease secrete a toxin and aggravate IL-1β-dependent intestinal inflammation.
- Xin V. Li
- , Irina Leonardi
- & Iliyan D. Iliev
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Obituary |
C. Thomas Caskey (1938–2022)
Geneticist who demonstrated the universality of life’s code.
- Jan Witkowski
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News |
COVID’s true death toll: much higher than official records
Modelling suggests that by the end of 2021, some 18 million people had died because of the pandemic.
- David Adam
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News |
Australian researchers push to end politicians’ power to veto grants
Inquiry into political interference in research will consider stripping ministers of the power to reverse decisions on peer-assessed projects.
- Bianca Nogrady
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Nature Index |
African leadership underpins success of malaria drug trial
Urgent research to bolster disease defences demands equitable responsibility and ownership between partners.
- Mark Peplow
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News & Views |
Immune cells alter genetic decoding in cancer
Cancer cells make proteins in which the amino acid phenylalanine is swapped for tryptophan when immune cells trigger a tryptophan shortage. This finding reveals unexpected dynamics of genetic decoding.
- Pavel V. Baranov
- & John F. Atkins
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Research Highlight |
Paper strip holds high-accuracy, low-cost test for dreaded viruses
Screening method detects Zika and chikungunya viruses using materials that fit onto easily transported paper test cards.
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Article
| Open AccessWhole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19
Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.
- Athanasios Kousathanas
- , Erola Pairo-Castineira
- & J. Kenneth Baillie
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Obituary |
Luc Montagnier (1932–2022)
Virologist who won a Nobel prize for discovering HIV.
- Heidi Ledford
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Outline |
Video: Guardian of the genome
The tumour-suppressing protein p53 protects our cells from damage, and its malfunction is associated with a vast array of cancers. There are no drugs to restore p53 function in tumours yet, but several therapies are under development.
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Outline |
A visual guide to restoring the guardian of the genome
Many tumours exhibit dysfunction of the p53 protein, a crucial suppressor of cancer. But, because the cause of this dysfunction varies, so, too, must potential treatments.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Outline |
p53: an anticancer protein’s chequered past and promising future
After a mixed-up start, it is now understood that most tumours exhibit dysfunction of the protein p53. Restoring its tumour-suppressing properties is no easy task.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Article |
FSH blockade improves cognition in mice with Alzheimer’s disease
Follicle-stimulating hormone acts directly on hippocampal and cortical neurons to accelerate amyloid-β and Tau deposition and impair cognition in mice displaying features of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Jing Xiong
- , Seong Su Kang
- & Keqiang Ye
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News & Views |
Lung microbes mediate spinal-cord autoimmunity
Lung bacteria modulate the activity of immune cells in the central nervous system in a rodent model of autoimmunity. This finding might shed light on the neuroinflammation associated with multiple sclerosis.
- Aubrey M. Schonhoff
- & Sarkis K. Mazmanian
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News |
Fourth dose of COVID vaccine offers only slight boost against Omicron infection
Israeli trial shows a fourth vaccination raises antibody levels but provides little extra protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
Will a rising Omicron variant scramble antibody treatments?
The BA.2 COVID variant now spreading worldwide disarms a crucial monoclonal-antibody therapy in laboratory tests.
- Freda Kreier
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Research Highlight |
A drug tames a common-cold virus that’s also a killer
Therapy reduces study participants’ levels of respiratory syncytial virus — and ‘mucus weight’.
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Comment |
Pandemics disable people — the history lesson that policymakers ignore
Influenza, polio and more have shown that infections can change lives even decades later. Why the complacency over possible long-term effects of COVID-19?
- Laura Spinney
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News & Views |
Epstein–Barr virus sparks brain autoimmunity in multiple sclerosis
Understanding factors that lead to the development of multiple sclerosis might aid efforts to develop new therapies. Clinical data now implicate a viral culprit and immune-system dysfunction as underlying factors in this condition.
- Hartmut Wekerle
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News |
Omicron-targeted vaccines do no better than original jabs in early tests
Experiments in animals show that boosters customized for the fast-spreading COVID variant offer little advantage over standard jabs.
- Emily Waltz
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News |
Heart-disease risk soars after COVID — even with a mild case
Massive study shows a long-term, substantial rise in risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke, after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
- Saima May Sidik
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Comment |
Reboot biomedical R&D in the global public interest
Inequitable access to the fruits of research during the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the urgency — and feasibility — of overhauling the R&D system.
- Soumya Swaminathan
- , Bernard Pécoul
- & Suerie Moon
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Editorial |
Long COVID and kids: more research is urgently needed
Like adults, children can experience long COVID, but few studies of the condition include young people. That has to change.
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News |
Stimulating spinal cord helps paralysed people to walk again
Implant restores some movement in three people with spinal-cord injuries — but the treatment is in its early stages.
- Sara Reardon