Featured
News & Views |
Stop the nonsense: genome editing creates potentially therapeutic transfer RNAsGenome editing has been used to generate a type of transfer RNA that overcomes the harmful effects of ‘nonsense’ gene variants — a possible remedy for a range of diseases.
- Kim M. Keeling
Article
|Open Access
A skin-permeable polymer for non-invasive transdermal insulin deliveryThe fast skin-permeable polyzwitterion poly[2-(N-oxide-N,N-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] may enable non-invasive transdermal delivery of insulin, and potentially facilitate the use of other protein- and peptide-based therapeutics through transdermal delivery.
- Qiuyu Wei
- ,Zhi He
- & Youqing Shen
Article
|Open Access
Prime editing-installed suppressor tRNAs for disease-agnostic genome editingA new strategy that uses prime editing to convert an endogenous tRNA into a suppressor tRNA shows therapeutic potential for multiple genetic diseases that are caused by premature stop codons.
- Sarah E. Pierce
- ,Steven Erwood
- & David R. Liu
News |
Pig-organ transplants are often rejected — researchers find a way to stop itGenetic modifications in pigs could be used to prevent the human immune system attacking donor organs.
- Rachel Fieldhouse
News |
Personalized gene editing helped one baby: can it be rolled out widely?In a world first, a bespoke gene-editing therapy benefited one child. Now researchers plan to launch a clinical trial of the approach.
- Heidi Ledford
News |
World’s smallest 3D bioprinter could rebuild tissue during surgeryFlexible device inspired by an elephant’s trunk can deliver healing hydrogels.
- Jenna Ahart
Article
|Open Access
Nanobody-based recombinant antivenom for cobra, mamba and rinkhals bitesA recombinant antivenom composed of eight nanobodies provides broad protection against venom-induced lethality and dermonecrosis in mice challenged with venoms from cobras, mambas and rinkhals snakes.
- Shirin Ahmadi
- ,Nick J. Burlet
- & Andreas H. Laustsen
Article
|Open Access
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint blockademRNA vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 also sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
- Adam J. Grippin
- ,Christiano Marconi
- & Steven H. Lin
Article |
Bottom-up design of Ca2+ channels from defined selectivity filter geometryDe novo design of Ca2+ channels with ion selectivity that can assemble appropriately and mediate Ca2+ conductance when expressed in cells is described.
- Yulai Liu
- ,Connor Weidle
- & David Baker
Article
|Open Access
Hijacking a bacterial ABC transporter for genetic code expansionBacterial ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters can be utilized and engineered to transport non-canonical amino acids intoEscherichia coli for highly efficient synthesis of proteins with novel functions.
- Tarun Iype
- ,Maximilian Fottner
- & Kathrin Lang
Article
|Open Access
Spatial metabolic gradients in the liver and small intestineMapping of spatial metabolic gradients in the mouse liver and intestine identifies fructose-induced focal derangements in liver metabolism.
- Laith Z. Samarah
- ,Clover Zheng
- & Joshua D. Rabinowitz
News & Views |
Do rats double-dip food with their tails?Nature’s pages feature evidence that rodents reach refreshment through wily means, and a review of a book that celebrates everything honey.
News Feature |
Faulty mitochondria cause deadly diseases: fixing them is about to get a lot easierCRISPR-based tools can’t easily access the DNA in these organelles, but researchers are finding other ways in.
- Gemma Conroy
Correspondence |
Microbe discovery holds promise for sustainable biotechnology
- Jie Li
- ,Shuwen Liu
- & Shiming Ding
Nature Podcast |
Ancient viral DNA helps human embryos developInfections particular to our genome might have helped drive human-specific traits — plus, using heat to power DNA computers.
- Shamini Bundell
- & Nick Petrić Howe
Article
|Open Access
Design of facilitated dissociation enables timing of cytokine signallingA fresh approach to protein design that incorporates excited intermediate states enables precise control over the lifetime of protein interactions, with potential applications in cell-signalling modulation and in biosensors and synthetic circuits.
- Adam J. Broerman
- ,Christoph Pollmann
- & David Baker
Nature Podcast |
This AI tool predicts your risk of 1,000 diseases — by looking at your medical recordsTrained on 400,000 medical records, the system can predict risks 20 years in advance — plus, how AIs could make you more likely to cheat.
- Shamini Bundell
- & Nick Petrić Howe
Research Briefing |
Bespoke 3D printing adapted to features mapped using computer visionConventional 3D printers do not extract information from their environment. A ‘context-aware’ volumetric printer uses light-sheet imaging and visual processing to map objects or living cells embedded in printable materials. This enables rapid, automated fabrication of designs adapted to mapped elements, such as vasculature precisely reaching the bioprinted cells.
News & Views |
Bioelectronic implants built from rolled-up stretchy circuitsSoft devices made by rolling up rubber-like sheets patterned with 2D electronics can monitor, stimulate and navigate deep tissue in animal models.
- Hyunjin Lee
- & Dae-Hyeong Kim
Article
|Open Access
Engineered prime editors with minimal genomic errorsEngineered prime editor systems with reduced occurrences of unwanted insertions or deletions during genome editing are developed.
- Vikash P. Chauhan
- ,Phillip A. Sharp
- & Robert Langer
News Feature |
How billions of hacked mosquitoes and a vaccine could beat the deadly dengue virusOutbreaks of dengue are killing thousands of people in South America each year and getting worse. Brazil hopes to turn the tide with a home-grown vaccine and an army of mosquitoes infected withWolbachia bacteria.
- Lucila Pinto
News & Views Forum |
Epigenetic clues from cancer’s past foretell its futureAn innovative method to trace tumour evolution using patterns of fluctuating DNA modifications could be implemented in the clinic to predict cancer progression.
- Pavlo Lutsik
- ,Veselin Manojlovic
- & George S. Vassiliou
Article |
Human gastroids to model regional patterning in early stomach developmentNeural tissue is a key signalling centre for fundic–antral patterning in development of gastric organoids featuring asymmetric PDX1 patterning.
- Xia Li
- ,Feng Lin
- & Yue Shao
Article
|Open Access
Programmable antisense oligomers for phage functional genomicsEstablishing antisense oligomers as versatile, non-genetic tools to silence phage mRNAs opens applications in basic research and biotechnology, as shown by identifying essential factors for propagation of the nucleus-forming jumbo phage ΦKZ such as the RNase H-like protein ΦKZ155.
- Milan Gerovac
- ,Leandro Buhlmann
- & Jörg Vogel
News |
‘Amazing feat’: US man still alive six months after pig kidney transplantThe first six months after an organ transplant are the riskiest for recipients.
- Rachel Fieldhouse
Nature Podcast |
Nature goes inside the world’s largest ‘mosquito factory’ — here’s the buzzFacility aims to stop deadly viruses such as Zika, dengue and chikungunya through the release of disease-fighting mosquitoes.
- Adam Levy
- & Mariana Lenharo
Research Briefing |
Cocaine-activated ion channels engineered to break the loop of addiction in ratsIon channels have been created that are selectively activated by cocaine and that act to either stimulate or inhibit the electrical activity of neuronal cells in the brain. These cocaine-activated ion channels are used to engineer neural circuits in rats to respond to cocaine in a manner that reduces cocaine seeking but not food seeking.
News |
This is the world’s largest ‘mosquito factory’: its goal is to stop dengueRaising millions upon millions of disease-fighting mosquitoes per week is no easy task,Nature learnt during its visit to the facility.
- Mariana Lenharo
Article
|Open Access
Adaptive and context-aware volumetric printingA new approach combining 3D imaging, computer vision and parametric modelling, named GRACE, is introduced, enabling adaptive and context-aware 3D printing of structures around features ranging from cellular to macroscopic scales with minimal user intervention.
- Sammy Florczak
- ,Gabriel Größbacher
- & Riccardo Levato
Outlook |
Will the latest skin substitutes revolutionize the treatment of burns and other wounds?Engineered multilayered tissues are showing great promise in the clinic, and could also provide more-accurate models for studying skin disease.
- Michael Eisenstein
News |
Glow-in-the-dark houseplants shine in rainbow of coloursSucculents become rechargeable night lights after injection with tiny phosphor particles.
- Katherine Bourzac
News |
Pig lung transplanted into a person in world firstLungs are complex organs to transplant, but the surgery is a step towards clinical trials.
- Rachel Fieldhouse
Research Briefing |
Feeding bees with engineered yeast combats colony declineNutritionally complete food for honeybees (Apis mellifera) has been generated by engineering yeast to produce rare but essential sterol molecules found in pollen. Honeybee colonies fed with the yeast-supplemented diet produced offspring for longer periods than did those fed sterol-deficient diets. This approach makes it possible to rear honeybees without pollen.
Article
|Open Access
Engineered yeast provides rare but essential pollen sterols for honeybeesGenetic engineering of a yeast strain provides rare but essential pollen sterols for honeybee colonies.
- Elynor Moore
- ,Raquel T. de Sousa
- & Geraldine A. Wright
Nature Video |
Why did researchers stick a duck to a rock? To show off their super glueResearchers have developed an AI-enhanced hydrogel capable of sticking even in wet, salty conditions.
- Nick Petrić Howe
News Feature |
This company claimed to ‘de-extinct’ dire wolves. Then the fighting startedColossal’s bold announcements have drawn criticism from many scientists, but the billion-dollar firm is not backing down.
- Ewen Callaway
Research Briefing |
‘Smart’ tool pieces together proteins in response to combinations of cell-surface cuesHuman cells display diverse surface proteins that vary by cell type and state. A modular system has been developed that triggers the joining of two parts of a full output protein only when specific cell-surface cues are met, enabling precise control of where functional proteins are generated and how they act.
News & Views |
AI expands the repertoire of CRISPR-associated proteins for genome editingA generative artificial-intelligence tool has designed a synthetic CRISPR system that successfully edits human DNA and sharply reduces off-target effects.
- Pascal Notin
Article
|Open Access
Programmable protein ligation on cell surfacesA synthetic biology system called SMART has been developed that uses conditional protein splicing for the programmable ligation of functional proteins from previously defined molecular combinations on cell surfaces.
- Christian Kofoed
- ,Girum Erkalo
- & Tom W. Muir
Article
|Open Access
Diffusing protein binders to intrinsically disordered proteinsUsing RFdiffusion, a general method for targeting intrinsically disordered proteins and regions for protein design has been developed.
- Caixuan Liu
- ,Kejia Wu
- & David Baker
Article
|Open Access
Design of highly functional genome editors by modelling CRISPR–Cas sequencesGene editors designed using artificial intelligence can undertake precision editing of the human genome.
- Jeffrey A. Ruffolo
- ,Stephen Nayfach
- & Ali Madani
Article
|Open Access
Precisely defining disease variant effects in CRISPR-edited single cellsA plate-based assay called CRAFTseq has been developed that uses ‘multi-omic’ single-cell RNA sequencing and direct genotyping of CRISPR edits to test the functional effects of genetic variants on cell state and function.
- Yuriy Baglaenko
- ,Zepeng Mu
- & Soumya Raychaudhuri
Review Article |
Integrated biotechnological and AI innovations for crop improvementThe integration of omics technologies, genome editing and protein design with artificial intelligence (AI) promises rapid advances in the field of crop improvement that will improve global food security.
- Guotian Li
- ,Linna An
- & Caixia Gao
Career Feature |
Meet the biotech-company founders driven by their child’s rare diseaseFor some parents, finding a cure for their child’s illness is the ultimate motivation to start a company.
- Rachel Brazil
Article |
Remodelling autoactive NLRs for broad-spectrum immunity in plantsCleavage by pathogen-derived proteases of an engineered chimeric protein activates its plant immune receptor component, enabling broad-spectrum resistance to pathogens in plants.
- Junzhu Wang
- ,Tianyuan Chen
- & Yule Liu
News |
Turbocharged ‘killer’ cells show promise for autoimmune diseaseExperimental treatment could offer a safer, cheaper alternative to CAR-T-cell therapies for disorders such as lupus.
- Heidi Ledford
Perspective |
The Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues NetworkThe Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues Network aims to create a reference catalogue of somatic mosaicism across different tissues and cells within individuals.
- Tim H. H. Coorens
- ,Ji Won Oh
- & Yuqing Wang
Comment |
How China can become a biotechnology superpowerAfter decades of pioneering institutional change in Chinese research, neuroscientist Rao Yi explains why US hesitation might offer China an opportunity to catch up internationally.
- Jacob Dreyer
Article |
Cryo-EM structure of a natural RNA nanocageThree-dimensional structures of two natural RNA nanocages reveal unique quaternary structures without the contribution of proteins.
- Xiaobin Ling
- ,Dmitrij Golovenko
- & Wenwen Fang
Browse broader subjects
Browse narrower subjects
- Animal biotechnology
- Applied immunology
- Assay systems
- Biologics
- Biomaterials
- Biomimetics
- Cell delivery
- Environmental biotechnology
- Expression systems
- Functional genomics
- Gene delivery
- Gene therapy
- Genomics
- Industrial microbiology
- Metabolic engineering
- Metabolomics
- Molecular engineering
- Nanobiotechnology
- Nucleic-acid therapeutics
- Oligo delivery
- Peptide delivery
- Plant biotechnology
- Protein delivery
- Proteomics
- Regenerative medicine
- Sequencing
- Stem-cell biotechnology
- Tissue engineering
