Search

A few anisotropic van der Waals materials have been shown to host hyperbolic polaritons in the visible and infrared ranges. Here, the authors characterize the complex dielectric function of hexagonal boron nitride in the deep-ultraviolet regime, supporting a natural hyperbolic dispersion and predicting hyperbolic exciton polaritons.

Hepatitis C virus remains a health burden due to the lack of an effective vaccine, hindered by difficulties in replicating the native E1E2 antigen structure. Here, the authors engineer a stabilized E1E2 heterodimer using cryo-EM-guided modifications, enhancing immunogenicity and paving the way for future HCV vaccine development.

High yield and wide adaptation rice are crucial for grain supply and food security. Here the authors report OsPI4Kγ7 which contributes to different “adaptability-yield” trade-offs in japonica and indica, and provides an alternative breeding strategy for raising grain yield in different latitudes.

Climate action could avoid over 1 million deaths globally from air pollution in 2040. However, it is suggested that cooperation is needed between developed and developing nations to ensure that disparities in air pollution are not perpetuated in the future.

N-terminal acetylation shapes protein fate during protein biosynthesis at the ribosome. Here the authors show that the NatA enzyme forms dynamic multi-factor complexes at the ribosome, acting as an interaction hub that coordinates cotranslational protein maturation.

Although river protection is core to social and environmental well-being, the extent to which river conservation policies are effective is difficult to assess. This study reveals that, under all relevant protection mechanisms in the contiguous USA, only 12% of rivers are adequately protected.

Natural variation in the promoter of OsTPS8 contributes to differences in grain chalkiness and seed vigor between indica and japonica rice subspecies by altering trehalose-6-phosphate biosynthesis and α-amylase levels.

NiPS₃ is a van der Waals material, which in the bulk is antiferromagnetic. Whether the antiferromagnetism persists down to the monolayer remains a topic of debate. Here, through magnetotransport measurements Cheon et al find that monolayer NiPS₃ exhibits two magnetic transitions, with a low temperature long-range ordered state.

RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) is typically considered as an essential enzyme. Here the authors show that natural degradation of RNAPII drives chromatin reorganization in growing oocytes, preparing the chromatin for genome activation after fertilization.

Compact Un1Cas12f1 enzyme suits AAV delivery but is limited by narrow PAMs and modest activity. Here, authors engineer evoCas12f to recognize broader NTNR/NYTR PAMs and boost editing efficiency up to 91%, enabling efficient multiplex editing, base editing, and gene activation in cells and mice.

This Commission aims to resolve the current dialysis policy challenges in Thailand and generate lessons for the global kidney community by drawing on empirical evidence, systems thinking and multidisciplinary expertise to generate policy goals and recommendations.

Latent strategies are difficult to identify in animals because they are behaviorally unobservable. Here the authors address this by comparing the representational geometries of the prefrontal cortex to those of recurrent neural networks trained on specific task strategies.

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction in acidic wastewater offers a route to produce ammonia, but faces efficiency challenges. Here, the authors report a Ru/WO_3-x catalyst that uses a proton-management strategy to achieve high ammonia production and enables a device that recovers energy.

The use of groundwater can help mitigate the impacts of natural disasters, thereby increasing the resilience of communities during and after events, according to a synthesis of hydrology and disaster response research.

Most patients with B-cell leukemia respond to chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy, yet many relapse due to loss of CAR T function. Here, the authors show that the metabolism of CAR T from short- and long-term responders is different, which may explain why CAR T lose functionality.

Here, the authors map malignant and non-malignant cellular states in human glioma using integrated single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, revealing spatially organized tumor-microenvironment interactions and distinct oligodendrocyte-associated programs linked to disease progression.

Glacial cycles can modulate volcanism. Using models of magma transport under ice loading, this study shows that ice sheets can stall rising magma at depth, suppressing eruptions and promoting magma evolution until deglaciation resumes activity.

The authors demonstrated a chiral R-PbI₂ interface in metal halides heterostructure that yields 68% spin-injection efficiency and 29% polarization in photocurrent. This precision engineering provides a vital pathway for efficient opto-spintronics.

Higher incomes are associated with higher well-being. Here, in a 109-nation study, the authors show that the rank of income, rather than income itself, is associated with higher well-being, especially in nations with lower social capital.

RNA design aims to find a sequence that folds into a target structure. Here, the authors formulate it as a continuous optimization over a coupled-variable distribution and leverage sampling to optimize arbitrary objectives. On Eterna100, it outperforms state-of-the-art methods across key metrics.

The ferroelectric nematic phase has both spontaneous polarity and fluidity and is therefore desirable, but can be challenging to obtain. Here, the authors report the preparation of a number of ferroelectric nematogens, of which several show the phase transition at relatively low temperatures.

Loss of TDP-43 induces a pathogenic cryptic splicing event in the PKN1 gene. The resulting stable, neurotoxic N207 peptide is detected in Alzheimer’s disease brains and drives cognitive deficits in mice, revealing a new mechanism in TDP-43 proteinopathy.

Brief ultrasound to human frontal eye fields, but not motor cortex, rapidly biases eye movement contralaterally in a perceptual choice task. The size of this effect scales with individual baseline FEF inhibitory tone.

Here, the authors conduct a metagenomic-based study of England’s rivers to show that biofilm bacteria are taxonomically and functionally diverse and are key to biogeochemical cycling, highlighting the importance of river biofilm bacteria in understanding and monitoring freshwater ecosystem health.

The first Nature Portfolio Commission Report outlines paths to sustainable dialysis policies, robust evidence-to-policy translation and south–south collaboration.

As we embark on our sixth year of publication, we reflect on what the journal has achieved and highlight some of its successes. This anniversary issue also features two Q&As. One pulls back the curtain on the work of the journal’s backstage team. The other samples the thoughts and opinions of some of the many researchers who supported the journal early on, as authors, advisers or reviewers.

The authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 62 studies, including more than 4,400 participants across 21 countries, to investigate the effects of nature exposure on self-reported pain.

Fibrosis is the final common pathway in chronic kidney disease and a potential target for therapeutic interventions. Here, the authors use intravital imaging to show that pyrimidinergic calcium signaling links tubular injury to fibroblast activation, and that blocking this pathway reduces fibrosis

C-prenylated flavonoids possess notable pharmaceutical potential, but their production is hindered by the challenging selective prenylation of their unstable polyphenolic cores. Here, the authors present a directed evolution strategy to reshape the active pocket of the prenyltransferase AtaPT, uncovering an aromatic cage that governs both regioselectivity and donor specificity, and achieve efficient and scalable synthesis of 27 C-prenylated flavonoids.

Independently folding domains can be seen as the functional and evolutionary structural units of proteins. Here, the authors assess effects of >7000 mutations in a model PDZ domain, to quantify how two small extensions to a protein domain reshape its energetic and allosteric landscape.

Antifungal aureobasidin A (AbA) targets inositol phosphorylceramide (IPC) synthase. The authors trap its ceramide-bound and drugbound states, revealing the catalytic and drug-inhibition mechanisms, providing basis for antifungal drug development.

Microbial cells have emerged as a versatile platform for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles, but their application to produce single-atom catalysts (SACs) has been rarely studied. Here, the authors develop a facile method for the ambient synthesis of SACs with a high loading by in situ reduction of metal ions on the cells overexpressing a catalytically active enzyme, producing chemo-bio bifunctional catalysts (SAC@cell).

The paper reports a scalable, chemical-free plasma process that converts methane and water into high-purity, single-layer graphene oxide while co-producing hydrogen, cutting greenhouse emissions, and lowering cost compared with conventional methods.

Kim et al. discovered an emergent giant topological Hall effect via twisting vdW magnet Fe₃GeTe₂ at a magic twist angle, at low temperature, and in the thin limit, providing evidence of skyrmion phases induced by local inversion symmetry breaking.

The authors observed the electric field-induced generation and manipulation of topological spin textures at the monolayer limit using the topological magneto-optical effect.

Polymer matrices are widely explored for room-temperature phosphorescent materials, but their effects on photophysical properties remain insufficiently explored. Here, the authors report a study considering the electronic and steric impacts of the matrix on thermally stimulated phosphorescence.

Mixed-matrix membranes incorporating soluble macrocycle compounds represent a promising class of materials for gas separation but achieving high selectivity for helium extraction from natural gas remains challenging. Here the authors incorporate a cyclic Cyclen with specific intra-ring dimensions as a pore-structure modifier to enhance He/CH₄ selectivity.

The majority of microbial metabolites remain cryptic or minimally expressed under laboratory conditions. Here authors show that high-energy pulsed electron beams (HEPE) can be used to induce extensive structural variation, activating secondary metabolite biosynthesis.

Organic lasers, known for their colour purity, are emerging as next-generation light emitters. Here, the authors use a self-driving laboratory to discover soluble red-shifted emitters and automate the search for solution-processable laser dyes.

Human gastrulation and AI are often treated as black boxes. Here, the authors provide interpretability to both by combining stem cell models with AI and mechanistic modeling to understand how gastrulation can fail and to predict teratogenic risk.

A structureless holographic approach is proposed to generate and control complex plasmonic fields on flat metal films. This method facilitates dynamic manipulation of energy flow and enables the guided transport of particles like a surface slide.

From lock-in transport measurements of a skyrmion lattice in MnSi, the authors find a delay in the voltage response of the Hall effect and resistivity, arguing that its deformation leads to inertial skyrmion lattice dynamics and emergent reactance.

Pre-monsoon tropical cyclones are particularly devastating in the North Indian Ocean. Global warming is increasing their activity, a trend likely to continue and raise risks for vulnerable coastal communities.