Search

Building crystal structures into the electron density is an important step in protein structure solution. Here, the authors recruit online game players, students, and experienced crystallographers to compete in a competition to solve a new structure, and find that crowdsourcing model-building works.

The quest to improve transparent conductors is a balance between increasing electrical conductivity and optical transparency. Here the authors demonstrate that both can be fulfilled by separating the optical and electrical conductivity directionality.

Synapses are surrounded by an extracellular matrix (ECM) of extremely long-lived proteins that is thought to only be remodeled by proteolysis and de novo synthesis. Here, the authors show an alternative molecular recycling mechanism that occurs for the key ECM protein Tenascin-R.

A time-dependent magnetic field expulsion was measured in optically driven YBa₂Cu₃O_6.48 above the equilibrium superconducting transition temperature and all the way to room temperature. 

Fe-based superconductors have attracted tremendous interest recently. New evidence on BaFe₂As₂ shows that chemical doping and pressure, both of which induce superconductivity, distort the lattice in similar ways. The result provides important information in the quest for an understanding of the mechanism behind superconductivity.

Jawless fish were recently shown to possess T- and B-like lymphocytes expressing diverse assembled antigen receptors. This study identifies and characterizes lympho-epithelial thymus-like structures at the tips of gill filaments of lamprey larvae, thus providing evidence that the similarities underlying the adaptive immune systems of both types of vertebrate appear to extend to primary lymphoid organs.

A genome-wide association study of critically ill patients with COVID-19 identifies genetic signals that relate to important host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage that may be targeted by repurposing drug treatments.

Variable lymphocyte receptors (VLRs) are used for antigen recognition in jawless vertebrates. Distinctive gene expression profiles for VLRA⁺ and VLRB⁺ lymphocytes in lampreys are now shown to resemble those of mammalian T and B cells, offering insight into the evolution of adaptive immunity.

The green wave hypothesis is often considered a key driver of spring migration in avian herbivores. Here the authors employ a multispecies comparison and find that migration did not track the green wave better than simulated stochastic migrations.

Developmental disorders (DDs) are more prevalent in males, thought to be due to X-linked genetic variation. Here, the authors investigate the burden of X-linked coding variants in 11,044 DD patients, showing that this contributes to ~6% of both male and female cases and therefore does not solely explain male bias in DDs.

The idea that emissions can be offset through projects that claim to avoid releases or to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is fatally flawed.

Effective chemotherapies against tuberculosis must kill the pathogen’s intracellular population. Here, Santucci et al. show that bacterial localisation within human macrophages impact pyrazinamide (PZA) accumulation and efficacy, and that combination with a second antibiotic (bedaquiline) enhances PZA accumulation via a host-dependent process.

Quantum electrodynamics predicts a rare process in which light is scattered by light. The ATLAS Collaboration reports signs of this elusive effect in the collisions of ultra-relativistic lead ions.

De novo mutations in MSL3 cause an X-linked syndrome affecting both males and females. MSL3 mutations reduce H4K16ac levels and lead to misregulation of cellular pathways involved in morphogenesis, cellular shape, and cell migration.

Whole-genome sequence data for 108 individuals representing 28 language groups across Australia and five language groups for Papua New Guinea suggests that Aboriginal Australians and Papuans diverged from Eurasian populations approximately 60–100 thousand years ago, following a single out-of-Africa dispersal and subsequent admixture with archaic populations.

The sprouting activity of filopodia emerging from endothelial sprouting cells needs to be compensated for in mature stable vessels. Adams and colleagues find that sprouting cells in mouse retinal vasculature show high VEGF uptake and VEGF receptor turnover, both essential for sprouting. These are inhibited by an aPKC-mediated decrease in VEGF receptor endocytosis in mature vessels, through a mechanism implicating clathrin-associated proteins, the transmembrane protein ephrin-B2 and the polarity factor PAR-3.

In quantum materials, ultrashort light pulses can induce transitions between electronic phases, switch ferroic orders and unveil non-equilibrium emergent behaviours. Here, we review the use of femtosecond X-ray pulses in tracking the underlying dynamics of the structural, electronic and magnetic order in these systems.

The ATLAS Collaboration reports the observation of the electroweak production of two jets and a Z-boson pair. This process is related to vector-boson scattering and allows the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking to be probed.

The ATLAS Collaboration reports a measurement of the ratio of the decay rates of W bosons to τ leptons and muons, in agreement with universal lepton couplings as postulated in the standard model of particle physics.

The physical properties of a solid-state material depends on its electronic structure, which can be studied using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). This Primer introduces the ARPES technique and describes how different variants can be used for applications including superconductors, topological materials and two-dimensional materials.

Learning from the similarities and differences between phylogenetic branches.

Low total energy expenditure (TEE) has been a hypothesized risk factor for weight gain, but longitudinal repeatability of TEE is incompletely understood. Here the authors report that TEE is repeatable for adults, but not for children, and increases in TEE (adjusted for fat-free mass, fat mass, age and sex) are not associated with body composition changes in short-term longitudinal analyses.

The goal of the 1000 Genomes Project is to provide in-depth information on variation in human genome sequences. In the pilot phase reported here, different strategies for genome-wide sequencing, using high-throughput sequencing platforms, were developed and compared. The resulting data set includes more than 95% of the currently accessible variants found in any individual, and can be used to inform association and functional studies.

Analyses of the relationships between temperature, moisture and seven key plant functional traits across the tundra and over time show that community height increased with warming across all sites, whereas other traits lagged behind predicted rates of change.

This report from the 1000 Genomes Project describes the genomes of 1,092 individuals from 14 human populations, providing a resource for common and low-frequency variant analysis in individuals from diverse populations; hundreds of rare non-coding variants at conserved sites, such as motif-disrupting changes in transcription-factor-binding sites, can be found in each individual.

Genome-wide ancient DNA data from 225 individuals who lived in southeastern Europe between 12000 and 500 bc reveals that the region acted as a genetic crossroads before and after the arrival of farming.

Through analyses of ancient and modern human genomes, the authors show that previously reported Holocene-era admixture has masked more than 50 historic hard sweeps in modern European genomes.

Efficient, large-scale genomic analysis is facilitated on the cloud by a computational tool with error-diagnosing and self-healing capabilities.

Experiments investigating strong interactions of light and matter at the single-photon level usually involve single atoms in mirrored cavities, but these are technically complex. This paper reports an alternative approach, demonstrating strong coupling between individual caesium atoms and the fields of a high-quality toroidal microresonator.

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider reports a search for charged-lepton-flavour violation in decays of Z bosons into a τ lepton and an electron or muon of opposite charge.

Ancient DNA analysis of early European farmers has found a high level of genetic affinity with present-day Sardinians. Here, the authors generate genome-wide capture data for 70 individuals from Sardinia spanning the Middle Neolithic to Medieval period to reveal relationships with mainland European populations shifting over time.

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data across 2,658 tumors spanning 38 cancer types shows that chromothripsis is pervasive, with a frequency of more than 50% in several cancer types, contributing to oncogene amplification, gene inactivation and cancer genome evolution.

Analysis of mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) by using whole-genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancer samples across 38 cancer types identifies hypermutated mtDNA cases, frequent somatic nuclear transfer of mtDNA and high variability of mtDNA copy number in many cancers.

SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in multiple outbreaks in hospitals, but identifying transmission events is challenging. Here, the authors combine whole genome sequencing and epidemiological data from the first two waves of the pandemic at a UK hospital trust and characterise transmission chains.

As we celebrate 50 years since his seminal Nature paper describing separate lineages for B cells and T cells in the chicken, Max Cooper looks back at the early discoveries that made this breakthrough possible and describes how the B cell field emerged.

When a superconductor is shrunk to the nanoscale, quantum size effects are predicted to strongly influence superconductivity. This is now demonstrated in Sn nanoparticles in which a reduction in size leads to a substantial enhancement of the superconducting gap.

It is unclear whether plant trait relationships found at the global scale extend to climatic extremes. Here the authors analyse six major aboveground traits to show that known plant trait relationships extend to the tundra biomes and exhibit the same two dimensions of variation detected at the global scale.

Chromodomain Helicase DNA-binding (CHD) proteins have been implicated in neurodevelopmental processes. Here, the authors identify missense variants in CHD3 that disturb its chromatin remodeling activities and cause a neurodevelopmental disorder with macrocephaly and speech and language impairment.

Modern female horses are genetically diverse but male horses are relatively homogenous. Lippoldet al. sequence the Y chromosome of nine ancient horses and detect diversity in the ancestral paternal lineage, demonstrating ancient Y-chromosomal DNA sequencing can provide insights into evolution.