News Feature |
Featured
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News & Views |
The phenomenon of genomic imprinting was discovered 40 years ago
Some genes carry an ‘imprint’ on either the maternal or the paternal copy, which determines whether or not that copy is expressed. This 1984 discovery changed how scientists think about gene regulation and inheritance.
- Anne C. Ferguson-Smith
- & Marisa S. Bartolomei
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News |
Human embryos embrace asymmetry to form the body
The cells generated by the very first division of the fertilized egg make a lopsided contribution to the body’s organs and tissues.
- Sara Reardon
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News Feature |
Hacking the immune system could slow ageing — here’s how
Our immune system falters over time, which could explain the negative effects of ageing.
- Alison Abbott
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Nature Podcast |
Sex and gender discussions don't need to be toxic
The science of sex and gender is too often misinterpreted and weaponized. Now, three experts cut through the misinformation in search of a positive future for this long-neglected area of research
- Lucy Odling-Smee
- , Florence Ashley
- & Noah Baker
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Article
| Open AccessPaternal microbiome perturbations impact offspring fitness
Disturbances in the gut microbiota of male mice manifest as fitness defects in their offspring by affecting plancenta function, revealing a paternal gut–germline axis.
- Ayele Argaw-Denboba
- , Thomas S. B. Schmidt
- & Jamie A. Hackett
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Article |
Airway hillocks are injury-resistant reservoirs of unique plastic stem cells
In the lungs, recently identified epithelial structures known as hillocks can act as injury-resistant reservoirs of stem cells.
- Brian Lin
- , Viral S. Shah
- & Jayaraj Rajagopal
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Article |
Mechanics of human embryo compaction
Using micropipette aspiration on donated human embryos, cell surface tensions during compaction were mapped, indicating a role for defective cell contractility in poor quality embryos.
- Julie Firmin
- , Nicolas Ecker
- & Jean-Léon Maître
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News |
First fetus-to-fetus transplant demonstrated in rats
The tissue developed into functioning kidneys and produced urine.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
Could a rare mutation that causes dwarfism also slow ageing?
People with Laron syndrome have a low risk of heart disease and a number of other age-related disorders, hinting at strategies for new treatments.
- Mariana Lenharo
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Outlook |
Are robots the solution to the crisis in older-person care?
Social robots that promise companionship and stimulation for older people and those with dementia are attracting investment, but some question their benefits.
- Tammy Worth
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Article
| Open AccessTransient loss of Polycomb components induces an epigenetic cancer fate
A transient perturbation of transcriptional silencing mediated by Polycomb proteins is sufficient to induce an epigenetic cancer cell fate in Drosophila in the absence of driver mutations.
- V. Parreno
- , V. Loubiere
- & G. Cavalli
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News & Views |
The sympathetic nervous system arose in the earliest vertebrates
The sympathetic nervous system, which enables the fight-or-flight response, was thought to be present only in jawed vertebrates. Analysis of a jawless vertebrate suggests that this system might be a feature of all animals with a spine.
- Uwe Ernsberger
- & Hermann Rohrer
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Article |
Neural crest origin of sympathetic neurons at the dawn of vertebrates
Challenging the belief that sympathetic ganglia are an innovation of jawed vertebrates, a study reports the presence of sympathetic neurons in an extant jawless vertebrate, the sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus.
- Brittany M. Edens
- , Jan Stundl
- & Marianne E. Bronner
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Nature Podcast |
Pregnancy’s effect on ‘biological’ age, polite birds, and the carbon cost of home-grown veg
We round up some recent stories from the Nature Briefing.
- Benjamin Thompson
- , Noah Baker
- & Flora Graham
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Article
| Open AccessA brain-specific angiogenic mechanism enabled by tip cell specialization
A molecular mechanism for brain-specific angiogenesis operates under the control of Wnt7a/b ligands.
- Giel Schevenels
- , Pauline Cabochette
- & Benoit Vanhollebeke
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News |
Scientists made a six-legged mouse embryo — here’s why
A rodent with two extra limbs instead of genitals shows the crucial role of a gene pathway in determining the fate of a primordial structure.
- Sara Reardon
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News & Views |
Anti-ageing antibodies revive the immune system
Depleting an expanding pool of aberrant stem cells in aged mice using antibody therapy has been shown to rebalance blood cell production, diminish age-associated inflammation and strengthen acquired immune responses.
- Yasar Arfat T. Kasu
- & Robert A. J. Signer
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News |
How to make an old immune system young again
Antibodies that target blood stem cells can rejuvenate immune responses in mice.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article |
The HEAT repeat protein HPO-27 is a lysosome fission factor
The conserved HEAT repeat protein HPO-27 is identified as a lysosome scission factor in Caenorhabditis elegans, and the human homologue MROH1 also serves the same function to maintain lysosomal homeostasis.
- Letao Li
- , Xilu Liu
- & Xiaochen Wang
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News |
Pregnancy advances your ‘biological’ age — but giving birth turns it back
Carrying a baby creates some of the same epigenetic patterns on DNA seen in older people.
- Saima Sidik
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Technology Feature |
One year, three researchers, millions of cells: how a small team created the largest mouse-embryo atlas so far
A map of mouse development from conception to birth tracks 12.4 million cells at single-cell resolution as they mature into organs and other tissues.
- Sara Reardon
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Research Briefing |
Neuron migration to brain regions key to memory and navigation continues into childhood
This study identifies a major migratory route for young neurons in the brains of young children. This route forms during pregnancy and links the birthplace of these nerve cells to their destination in highly interconnected brain regions that are responsible for memory and spatial processing.
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Nature Video |
Building a heart atlas: researchers map organ in stunning detail
Cutting edge imaging techniques reveal how cells organise as the heart develops.
- Dan Fox
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Article
| Open AccessSpatially organized cellular communities form the developing human heart
Combining single-cell RNA-sequencing with high-resolution multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization reveals in detail the cellular interactions and specialization of cardiac cell types that form and remodel the human heart.
- Elie N. Farah
- , Robert K. Hu
- & Neil C. Chi
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News & Views |
Ancient skin sported intricately patterned scales
The discovery of 285-million-year-old fossils of intricately patterned animal scales indicates that evolutionary tinkering of armoured skin started at the dawn of life on dry land as aquatic vertebrates adapted for terrestrial survival.
- Maksim V. Plikus
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Research Briefing |
Mechanisms guiding the slow pace of maturation in human neurons uncovered
Nerve cells in the human brain take a remarkably long time to mature. This study identifies an epigenetic ‘barrier’ in neural precursor cells that determines the rate of neuronal maturation and is slowly released during the process. Inhibition of the barrier is shown to accelerate maturation in multiple human stem-cell-based models.
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Article
| Open AccessOn the genetic basis of tail-loss evolution in humans and apes
An insertion of an Alu element into an intron of the TBXT gene is identified as a genetic mechanism of tail-loss evolution in humans and apes, with implications for human health today.
- Bo Xia
- , Weimin Zhang
- & Itai Yanai
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Article |
A patterned human neural tube model using microfluidic gradients
Newly developed microfluidic neural tube-like and forebrain-like structures based on human pluripotent stem cells can model pivotal aspects of neural patterning along both the rostral–caudal and dorsal–ventral axes.
- Xufeng Xue
- , Yung Su Kim
- & Jianping Fu
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Research Highlight |
How egg cells handle their cellular rubbish
The discovery of a molecular recycling system in mouse oocytes might help scientists to understand why fertility declines with age.
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Research Briefing |
A human embryo model mimics early development and blood-cell formation
Human embryos are extremely difficult to study. This lack of samples limits our understanding of crucial developmental stages, such as the early formation of blood cells. A stem-cell-based model closely captures the development of human embryonic and key extra-embryonic tissues after implantation, as well as the formation of early blood cells.
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Article
| Open AccessA single-cell time-lapse of mouse prenatal development from gastrula to birth
Single-cell transcriptome profiling of mouse embryos and newborn pups is combined with previously published data to construct a tree of cell-type relationships tracing development from zygote to birth.
- Chengxiang Qiu
- , Beth K. Martin
- & Jay Shendure
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Nature Video |
Why human brain cells grow so slowly
Some human neurons take years to reach maturity; an epigenetic ‘brake’ could be responsible.
- Shamini Bundell
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Article
| Open AccessSHR and SCR coordinate root patterning and growth early in the cell cycle
Quantitative time-resolved microscopy analysis of SHR and SCR dynamics in single cells of living Arabidopsis roots shows that these transcription factors coordinate formative and proliferative cell divisions early in the cell cycle.
- Cara M. Winter
- , Pablo Szekely
- & Philip N. Benfey
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News & Views |
Unravelling how plant cells divide and differ
In a multicellular organism, normal growth requires control of cell division to generate cells that are similar to or different from their parents. Analysis of this process in plant roots reveals how this mechanism is regulated.
- Ikram Blilou
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Research Briefing |
Embryo model made using pluripotent stem cells reveals details of early development in humans
Early embryonic development in humans remains poorly understood. A 3D cellular model called bilaminoids, generated using ‘naive’ pluripotent stem cells and derived cell types, successfully recapitulates early development and enables mechanistic studies to examine how various cellular components interact to regulate early embryogenesis.
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News |
New genetic variants found in large Chinese mother–baby study
The study is one of the first in Asia to examine links between the genomes of mothers, babies and their health.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Article
| Open AccessAn epigenetic barrier sets the timing of human neuronal maturation
The slow maturation of human neurons is regulated by epigenetic modification in nascent neurons, mediated by EZH2, EHMT1, EHMT2 and DOT1L.
- Gabriele Ciceri
- , Arianna Baggiolini
- & Lorenz Studer
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Article
| Open AccessDeciphering cell states and genealogies of human haematopoiesis
An improved, single-cell lineage-tracing system, based on deep detection of naturally occurring mitochondrial DNA mutations with simultaneous readout of transcriptional states and chromatin accessibility, is used to define the clonal architecture of haematopoietic stem cells.
- Chen Weng
- , Fulong Yu
- & Vijay G. Sankaran
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Article
| Open AccessAffinity-optimizing enhancer variants disrupt development
Low-affinity transcription factor binding sites are prevalent across the genome, and single nucleotide changes that increase binding affinity even slightly can cause gain-of-function gene expression and phenotypes (such as polydactyly).
- Fabian Lim
- , Joe J. Solvason
- & Emma K. Farley
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Research Briefing |
Observing mammalian cerebellum development through an evolutionary lens
Tracking the gene-expression profiles of individual cerebellar cells during development in humans, mice and opossums revealed evolutionarily conserved as well as species-specific cellular and molecular features.
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Research Briefing |
Drain ‘pipes’ behind the nose clear cerebrospinal fluid from the brain
This study reveals a distinctive network of lymphatic vessels at the back of the nose that serves as a major hub for the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to deep cervical lymph nodes in the neck. These deep cervical lymphatics remain intact with ageing, and their pharmacological activation enhanced CSF drainage in mice.
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Book Review |
The research aiming to keep people healthier for longer
An exploration of the biological reasons that people age celebrates the role of worms and flies in enabling scientific discovery — and investigates how to age well.
- Linda Partridge
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Research Briefing |
Zebrafish embryo cells need no receptors to receive signals from afar
Thin cellular protrusions called cytonemes can transport ligand–receptor complexes from a signal-producing cell to a receiving cell in the developing zebrafish embryo. Even cells lacking the receptor can be activated by this signalling system.
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Article
| Open AccessCytoneme-mediated transport of active Wnt5b–Ror2 complexes in zebrafish
In zebrafish embryos, active complexes of Wnt5b and its membrane-bound receptor Ror2 are transported between cells via cellular protrusions called cytonemes to initiate paracrine Wnt5b signalling in cells that do not endogenously express the receptor.
- Chengting Zhang
- , Lucy Brunt
- & Steffen Scholpp
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Article
| Open AccessEmergence of replication timing during early mammalian development
Genome-wide replication timing maps of mouse embryos from the zygote to the blastocyst stage were generated using single-cell Repli-seq, shedding light on the establishment of the epigenome at the beginning of mammalian development.
- Tsunetoshi Nakatani
- , Tamas Schauer
- & Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla
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News Feature |
Making mice with two dads: this biologist rewrote the rules on sexual reproduction
Katsuhiko Hayashi created viable mouse eggs from male cells, a feat that could help to save species on the brink of extinction.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article
| Open AccessModelling post-implantation human development to yolk sac blood emergence
A genetically inducible stem cell-derived embryoid model of early post-implantation human embryogenesis captures the codevelopment of embryonic tissue and extra-embryonic endoderm and mesoderm niche with early haematopoiesis, with potential for drug testing and disease modelling.
- Joshua Hislop
- , Qi Song
- & Mo R. Ebrahimkhani
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Article
| Open AccessIn vitro production of cat-restricted Toxoplasma pre-sexual stages
A study describes the molecular basis of sexual development of Toxoplasma gondii entirely in vitro, demonstrating the role and interaction of AP2XII-1 and AP2XI-2 in the developmental program of this protozoan parasite.
- Ana Vera Antunes
- , Martina Shahinas
- & Mohamed-Ali Hakimi
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News |
Are your organs ageing well? The blood holds clues
One organ in a person’s body can age faster than the rest — with implications for health and mortality.
- Max Kozlov
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