Technology Features

In this field, scientists draw on ecology, population genomics, oceanography and biophysical modeling to assess and predict change. Their dynamic study object just never quite sits still.

Since the chance discovery of nanobodies in the late 1980s, their uses and applications have kept growing. Researchers are now exploring new ways to harness nanobody versatility.

Using electron microscopy, scientists mapped a Caenorhabditis elegans nervous system and Drosophila brain at single-neuron resolution. Connectomics work on bigger brains takes new methods strategies.

Scientists can choose between multiple human genome references, and a pangenome reference is coming. Deciding what to use when is not quite straightforward.

With a focus on the evolutionary forces that shape cancer cell behavior, some researchers work out ways to outmaneuver cancer.

As instruments and approaches emerge for single-molecule protein analysis, some developers and early users share their first impressions.

Scientists track how these membraneless biomolecular foci self-organize for their cellular tasks.

A steadily growing toolbox of techniques is helping researchers to understand the structural complexity that enables RNA molecules to perform a dizzying array of functions in the cell.

Scientists who study biodiversity are in the rapid adoption phase of AI. They are finding that what AI can — and can’t — do is shifting rapidly.

Advances in label-free microscopy allow researchers to visualize the invisible in complex biological systems, even living animals, from whole organs down to the tiniest peptides.

Vectors can be the ultimate vehicle for transporting material into cells. Except when they’re not so ultimate.

As they study the emerging roles of RNA in disease and homeostasis, some scientists use RNA editing to direct precise RNA changes that shape cellular events.

Scientists in stem cell and conservation biology are exploring how they might rescue endangered species, and perhaps even de-extinct some. From cell to genetically diverse population is a trek.

A new generation of increasingly powerful magnets is dramatically extending the resolution, speed and analytical capabilities of magnetic resonance imaging for brain research.

Several researchers share tales around the development of their widely used methods.

The global imaging community is pursuing innovative approaches to achieve more equitable access to instruments and expertise.

As scientists avidly use, tinker and build with artificial intelligence tools, best practices begin to emerge.

Assessing forest health and resilience is an urgent, many-methods task that takes global collaboration, data collected at multiple scales and a willingness to be surprised.

Dimension reduction helps to visualize high-dimensional datasets. These tools should be used thoughtfully and with tuned parameters. Sometimes, these methods take a second thought.

To those who seek transcriptomic information at high resolution, scale and throughput, single-cell RNA sequencing brings the data. Scientists share tips and future plans as they reflect on the method’s rise to stardom.