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In just a year, ChatGPT has permeated scientific research. Seven scientists reveal what they have learnt about how the chatbot should — and shouldn’t — be used.

Endosomal sequestration of lipid-based nanoparticles is a barrier to delivery of nucleic acids. Here the authors test an array of cholesterol variants and perform in-depth investigation of nanoparticle shape, internal structure and intracellular trafficking.

Covalent DNA tagging of cysteine residues enhances protein capture and slows the passage of proteins through a silicon nitride nanopore, yielding distinctive electrical signatures for the rapid classification of proteins.

In this Journal Club, Siddharth Ramanan describes a review of the relationship between cognitive functions and neuroanatomy.

The authors spatially and functionally map innate lymphoid cells in the human female genital tract at homeostasis, uncovering tissue-specific and subset-specific distribution and functions, and rapid antiviral responses following HIV exposure.

Ticks adhere firmly to their host by secreting a protein-rich saliva that eventually forms a solid bioadhesive, but the mechanism underlying this phase transition is not understood. Now it has been shown that a disordered glycine-rich protein present in tick saliva undergoes liquid–liquid phase separation, followed by a liquid-to-gel transition, and exhibits adhesive properties.

Oxidation of volatile organic compounds leads to aerosol formation in the atmosphere, but the mechanism of some fast reactions is still unclear. The authors, using quantum chemical modelling and experiments, reveal that in key monoterpenes the cyclobutyl ring that would hinder the reactivity is broken in the early exothermic steps of the reaction.

A combination of electronic structure calculations and machine learning strategies is developed to predict structures of complex heterogeneous catalysts in realistic environments, yielding new opportunities for optimization for energy applications.

A risk-based, spatially explicit analysis of carbon storage in sedimentary basins establishes a prudent planetary limit of around 1,460 Gt of geological carbon storage, which requires making explicit decisions on priorities for storage use.

A turn-key-operable hybrid integrated Pockels laser based on an external distributed Bragg waveguide grating reflector fabricated in a wafer-scale thin-film lithium niobate on insulator platform is demonstrated, with a tuning efficiency of over 550 MHz V^–1, tuning rates reaching the exahertz per second, and a high output power of 15 mW.

There is enormous potential in combining the capabilities of the biological and the solid-state to create hybrid engineered systems. Here, the authors develop a technique to incorporate and activate ATPases in in vitromembranes to produce energy-harvestable currents to power an integrated circuit.

In a silent trial involving 197 patients with lung cancer over a span of 4 months, a fine-tuned pathology foundation model was able to identify the presence of EGFR mutations with high accuracy, potentially preventing further genetic testing in 43% of cases.

Designing efficient analog dynamical systems for solving hard optimization problems remains a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate a dynamical system of thirty oscillators with reconfigurable coupling to compute optimal/near-optimal solutions to the hard Maximum Independent Set problem with over 90% accuracy.

The local Drude model predicts that, under certain conditions, surface plasmon polaritons at a metal-dielectric surface have a frequency range where only unidirectional propagation is supported. Here, the authors show that in more realistic non-local models surface plasmon polaritons exhibit bidirectional propagation for all frequencies.

A crystal is a band insulator if the energy bands are filled with electrons. Partially filled bands result in a metal, or sometimes a Mott insulator when interactions are strong. A study now shows that for many crystalline structures, the Mott insulator is the only possible insulating state, even for filled bands.

A wireless, minimally invasive emergency rescue device is developed for the active burst-release of stable particulate forms of peptide and hormone drugs into subcutaneous sites in mice.

The ozonolysis of α-pinene is important in atmospheric secondary organic aerosols formation. Here, the authors use a molecular dynamics guided reaction discovery approach and identify endoperoxide-to-alkoxy isomerization as a key branching point in the mechanism.

Genomic analyses focused on regions that form R-loops identify rare mutations in RNU2-2 and RNU5B-1 in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Bloodstream infections with Candida parapsilosis in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients are associated with heteroresistance to the antifungal micafungin, which can be predicted from genomic features using machine learning.

GWAS in difficult-to-recruit populations identifies variants associated with Lassa fever outcome and susceptibility at loci proximal to LIF, GRM7 and LARGE1.

The human kidney maintains homeostasis through a complex network of up to a million nephrons. Here the authors construct a 3D neuro-nephron connectivity map of human kidneys, which reveals neuro-glomerular communities across the kidney connected via “mother glomeruli” as hub points explaining structural basis for fluid homeostasis. These networks develop after birth and decline with age and in disease states

Rat hepatitis E virus (HEV) can infect humans, but the extent of spillover isn’t well studied. Here the authors develop a serological test that distinguishes exposure to rat HEV from other HEV infection and show substantial spillover in a biodiversity hotspot in China. The method can support surveillance of rat HEV.

A protein that evolved in primates, BTN3A3, is expressed in human airways and shows antiviral activity against avian IAVs but not against human IAVs.

A newly developed RIPK3 inhibitor blocks necroptosis of lung cells, reduces lung inflammation and prevents mortality in a mouse model of influenza A virus infection.

‘Manufacturing CAR-T cells is a streamlined and highly regulated procedure involving T-cell-expansion and activation on a standardised platform. Here, the authors show that a personalized approach, taking the phenotypic attributes of individual patients’ T cells into account, leads to more efficient CAR-T cell manufacturing and better CAR-T cell functionality.

A major goal in Engineering Biology and Materials Science is the development of active, autonomous scaffolds that mimic those present in biological cells. Here the authors report a toolkit for programming the dynamic behaviour of nucleic acid scaffolds in minimal cell-like compartments.

In vitro protein folding can often result in aggregation and low yields. Here the authors use nanoscale exoshells to improve soluble yield, functional yield and specific activity of folded proteins.

The oxidation of aromatics contributes significantly to the formation of atmospheric aerosol. Using toluene as an example the authors demonstrate a molecular rearrangement channel in the oxidation mechanism and show that the bicyclic peroxy radicals are much less stable than previously thought and can lead to aerosol-forming low-volatility products with up to 9 oxygen atoms on sub-second timescales

Iodic acid (HIO₃) forms aerosols very efficiently, but its gas-phase formation mechanism is not well understood. Atmospheric simulation chamber experiments, quantum chemical calculations and kinetic modelling have now revealed that HIO₃ forms as an early iodine oxidation product from hypoiodite. The mechanism explains field measurements and suggests a catalytic role for iodine in particle formation.

Improving recombinant protein expression and stabilization remains a significant challenge. Here, the authors engineer Archaeoglobus fulgidus ferritin as a thermostable exoshell to provide steric accommodation and charge complementation for recombinant proteins, which can improve yields by 100 fold.