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p53 is an evolutionarily ancient coordinator of metazoan stress responses and its role in tumour suppression is likely to be a relatively recent adaptation. This Review discusses how such evolutionary retooling of this venerable transcription factor entails compromises that restrict its efficacy as a tumour suppressor.

A positive result.

A winning proposal.

Researchers reveal widespread, newly formed seafloor seeps along Antarctica’s Ross Sea coast. Methane-rich flows alter local ecosystems and may influence warming. The drivers remain unknown, warranting coordinated study.

Magnetoencephalography recordings in native speakers of Chinese or German show that neural activity synchronized to the onsets of ongoing speech - considered pre-linguistic processing – is enhanced when listening to native speech.

MRI-based structural imaging has become an integral component of the clinical assessment of patients with suspected Alzheimer disease (AD), and atrophy of medial temporal structures is now considered to be a valid diagnostic marker at the mild cognitive impairment stage. In this article, Frisoni et al. consider the roles of structural MRI markers in the diagnosis of AD and non-AD dementias, and in the tracking of disease progression during clinical trials.

Late diagnosis and ineffective treatment of fungal infections lead to high mortality. Here, Rudkin et al. generate anti-Candida human monoclonal antibodies with diagnostic and therapeutic potential, by expressing recombinant antibodies from genes cloned from B cells of patients suffering candidiasis.

The PSA (KLK3) genetic variant rs17632542 is associated with reduced prostate cancer risk and lower serum PSA levels, although the underlying reasons are unclear. Here, the authors show that this PSA variant reduced proteolytic activity and leads to smaller tumours, but also increases invasion and bone metastasis, indicating its dual risk association depending on tumour context; the variant is associated with both lower risk and poor clinical outcomes.

Suspected non-Alzheimer disease pathophysiology (SNAP) is a biomarker-based concept that applies to individuals with normal levels of amyloid-β biomarkers in the brain, but in whom biomarkers of neurodegeneration are abnormal. Clinically normal and mildly impaired individuals with SNAP are at increased risk of poor clinical and cognitive outcomes. In this Perspectives article, Clifford Jack and colleagues describe the available data on SNAP and address topical controversies in the field.

Widespread shallow-water hydrothermal venting in the North Atlantic, probably a source of methane, coincided with the onset of the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, according to borehole proxy records and seismic imaging.

Early magnetism could have helped create conditions to support life.

Marvin J Slepian and Jack G Copeland present their Viewpoint on the University of Arizona's experience with the CardioWest^™total artificial heart (TAH-t) in patients with protracted refractory cardiogenic shock accompanying acute myocardial infarction. The authors assert that the TAH-t could provide a lifeline to patients whose prognosis would otherwise be bleak.

Nature explores the impact of the first US court decision over how employers use genetic information.

Results of fine-mapping 94 inflammatory bowel disease loci using high-density genotyping in 67,852 individuals and several new fine-mapping methods.

Synthetic polymerase is a small step along the way to mirrored life forms.

Essay triggers lively arguments over how basic science should be funded.

It’s all in the mind.

And another thing…

As a massive El Niño warming builds in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, researchers hope to make the most of their chance to study this havoc-wreaking phenomenon.

A musical connection.

But proposals spur concern that development will pollute the nearly pristine site.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute launches new funding round for basic biology.

The vast resource of viral genome sequences has been exploited to carry out a genomic comparison and phylogenetic analysis of the picorna-like superfamily. The authors conclude that the diverse groups of picorna-like viruses probably evolved in a 'Big Bang' that came after the evolution of the main groups of eukaryotes.

Pathological changes underlying Alzheimer disease (AD) begin more than 10 years before clinical presentation, and the need for early therapeutic intervention is becoming increasingly recognized. Reisa Sperling and colleagues consider challenges to such an approach—including the difficulty of defining preclinical AD, and ethical issues associated with disclosing information on AD biomarker status to healthy individuals—and discuss possible ways to overcome these hurdles.

The US president reiterated his promise to roll back climate regulations on his first day in office.

Jane C. S. Long relishes an erudite exploration of the people and principles of climate intervention.

Several immunosuppressive treatments have demonstrated their efficacy in idiopathic membranous nephropathy, but spontaneous remission does develop in more than 30% of patients. The availability of a validated biomarker that is easy to measure and able to accurately predict long-term outcomes would be very helpful for tailoring treatment of the disease to the individual.

The analysis of whole-genome sequence data from both modern and ancient humans has provided evidence for archaic adaptive introgression. Here, the authors provide an overview of the statistical methods used and the supporting evidence for reported examples of archaic introgression, which may have driven the acquisition of beneficial variants that enabled adaptation and survival in new environments.

Patients with sickle-cell disease can suffer both from the direct consequences of the disease and from iron overload due to repeated transfusions. As described in this article, a wide range of endocrine, metabolic and nutritional abnormalities are found in this patient group, and often occur before iron overload is evident.

Chicken embryos have been altered so that the birds grow dinosaur-like snouts.

Quest aims to uncover secrets of big craters across the Solar System.

New research indicates that intact soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) does not induce albuminuria in mice. These data corroborate the most recent clinical findings, showing that intact suPAR is not the plasma permeability factor responsible for recurrence of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis after renal transplantation.

Palaeobiologist who pioneered mathematical modelling of mass extinctions.

Machines could get themselves out of a sticky spot, thanks to an insect that can right itself without using its legs.

Scarlet kingsnakes in North Carolina have evolved to more closely resemble a poisonous lookalike no longer found in the area.

The number of new drugs approved per billion US dollars spent on research and development (R&D) has fallen around 80-fold in inflation-adjusted terms since 1950, despite advances in many of the scientific and technological inputs into the R&D process. Given the apparent lack of impact of proposed solutions to declining R&D efficiency so far, Scannell and colleagues ask whether the underlying problems have been correctly diagnosed and discuss factors that they consider to be the primary causes.

The central vein sign (CVS) has been proposed as a novel MRI biomarker to improve the accuracy and speed of multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis. This Consensus Statement from the NAIMS Cooperative provides a roadmap to help radiologists and neurologists to better understand, refine, standardize and evaluate the CVS in the diagnosis of MS.

In this Perspectives article, Paul Zimmet and colleagues outline how current estimates of the prevalence diabetes mellitus and of related mortality are imprecise. They call for international consensus on uniform standards and criteria for reporting national data on diabetes mellitus.

Glycan research holds great promise in the development of biomarkers, and might highlight targets for novel therapeutics in IBD. This Review introduces the main characteristics of glycosylation, and the roles of glycans in health and disease are also briefly presented. The authors subsequently describe in detail the current body of glycobiology literature in relation to IBD and conclude with proposed strategies for further glycan research.

Contemporary increase in the prescription of anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs can increase the risk of TURP-related bleeding. Kavanagh et al. describe the commonly-prescribed prohemorrhagic medications that clinicians should be familiar with and discuss when it is safe to withhold them. They also discuss the medications and surgical techniques that can be used to minimize prostatic blood loss.

Hampson et al. discuss the epidemiology, pathogenesis, aetiology, and evaluation of anterior male urethral strictures. They also consider some current controversies in urethroplasty, such as the management of failed hypospadias repair and long or complex strictures, as well as the use of dorsal versus ventral onlay grafting.