Featured
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Outlook |
Innovative cancer therapies offer new hope
The arsenal of weapons used to treat these insidious diseases is rapidly expanding.
- Herb Brody
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Outlook |
Advances in highly targeted radiation treatment for cancer have ignited interest in a once obscure field
Therapies that treat while diagnosing — theranostics — can extend length of survival and improve the quality of life for some people with advance-stage cancer.
- Rachel Nuwer
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Outlook |
Randomized trials of cancer drugs are for yesterday
Pitting new treatments against old, ineffective agents is neither ethical nor economical.
- Elaine Schattner
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Outlook |
How antibody–drug conjugates aim to take down cancer
Scientists are trying to work out how to balance potency with toxicity and tackle the cost of next-generation therapeutics.
- Benjamin Plackett
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News |
‘Smart’ antibiotic can kill deadly bacteria while sparing the microbiome
Compound called lolamicin targets a group of harmful microbes but does not disturb those that live peacefully in the gut.
- Fred Schwaller
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News Feature |
A myopia epidemic is sweeping the globe. Here’s how to stop it
Time spent outdoors is the best defence against rising rates of short-sightedness, but scientists are searching for other ways to reverse the troubling trend.
- Elie Dolgin
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News |
The immune system can sabotage gene therapies — can scientists rein it in?
People treated with gene therapy cannot receive a second dose for fear of a dangerous immune response. Researchers hope to find a way around this.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Ozempic keeps wowing: trial data show benefits for kidney disease
Semaglutide, the same compound in obesity drug Wegovy, slashes risk of kidney failure and death for people with diabetes.
- Rachel Fairbank
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Correspondence |
Trials that infected people with common colds can inform today’s COVID-19 challenge trials
- Jonathan Ewbank
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News |
First ‘bilingual’ brain-reading device decodes Spanish and English words
Artificial-intelligence system allows a man who cannot speak coherently to have a conversation in the language of his choice.
- Amanda Heidt
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News |
Lab-grown sperm and eggs: ‘epigenetic’ reset in human cells paves the way
Technique wipes away tags on DNA that must be reprogrammed during development of reproductive cells.
- Heidi Ledford
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Clinical Briefing |
mRNA therapy is safe for treating the inherited metabolic condition propionic acidaemia
Propionic acidaemia is an inheirited metabolic condition caused by a lack of a liver enzyme, which leads to accumulation of toxic compounds. In a first-in-human trial, a therapeutic messenger RNA drug (mRNA-3927) led to restored enzyme activity, was well tolerated and showed a promising dose-dependent reduction of potentially life-threatening clinical events.
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News |
Pig-organ transplants: what three human recipients have taught scientists
As researchers mark the loss of the first living recipient of a pig kidney, they share what they’ve learnt about xenotransplantation.
- Max Kozlov
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News |
Gut microbes linked to fatty diet drive tumour growth
Scientists know there is a link between obesity and some cancers. A study in mice and people suggests why that might be.
- Gillian Dohrn
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Comment |
Neglecting sex and gender in research is a public-health risk
The data are clear: taking sex and gender into account in research and using that knowledge to change health care could benefit billions of people.
- Sue Haupt
- , Cheryl Carcel
- & Robyn Norton
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News |
Brain-reading device is best yet at decoding ‘internal speech’
Technology that enables researchers to interpret brain signals could one day allow people to talk using only their thoughts.
- Miryam Naddaf
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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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News |
‘Orangutan, heal thyself’: First wild animal seen using medicinal plant
The Sumatran orangutan used a plant known to humans for its medicinal qualities.
- Gayathri Vaidyanathan
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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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News & Views |
Genomics reveal unknown mutation-promoting agents at global sites
Genetic sequencing of human kidney cancers worldwide has revealed associations between geographical locations and specific mutation patterns, indicating exposure to known and unknown mutation-promoting agents.
- Irene Franco
- & Fran Supek
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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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Article |
Mitochondrial transfer mediates endothelial cell engraftment through mitophagy
Under stressful conditions, mesenchymal stromal cells transfer mitochondria to endothelial cells through tunnelling nanotubes, and artificially transplanting mitochondria into endothelial cells improves the ability of these cells to engraft and to revascularize ischaemic tissues.
- Ruei-Zeng Lin
- , Gwang-Bum Im
- & Juan M. Melero-Martin
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Article
| Open AccessMultimodal decoding of human liver regeneration
Harnessing single-nucleus RNA sequencing and spatial profiling, this work dissects unanticipated aspects of human liver regeneration to uncover a novel migratory hepatocyte subpopulation mediating wound closure following acute liver injury.
- K. P. Matchett
- , J. R. Wilson-Kanamori
- & N. C. Henderson
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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 & Views |
Bioengineered ‘mini-colons’ shed light on cancer progression
Cells grown on a 3D scaffold have generated a ‘mini-colon’ that mimics key features of the organ. Controlled expression of cancer-associated genes in the system offers a way to examine tumour formation over space and time.
- Nicolò Riggi
- & Felipe de Sousa e Melo
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News |
Mini-colon and brain ‘organoids’ shed light on cancer and other diseases
Tiny 3D structures made from human stem cells sometimes offer insights that animal models cannot.
- Sara Reardon
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News |
Monkeypox virus: dangerous strain gains ability to spread through sex, new data suggest
A cluster of mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo sparks worries of a wider outbreak.
- Max Kozlov
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Outlook |
AI’s keen diagnostic eye
Powered by deep-learning algorithms, artificial intelligence systems could replace agents such as chemicals currently used to augment medical scans.
- Neil Savage
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News |
AI traces mysterious metastatic cancers to their source
Algorithm examines images of metastatic cells to identify the location of the primary tumour.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Analysis
| Open AccessRefining the impact of genetic evidence on clinical success
Human genetic evidence increases the success rate of drugs from clinical development to approval but we are still far from reaching peak genetic insights to aid the discovery of targets for more effective drugs.
- Eric Vallabh Minikel
- , Jeffery L. Painter
- & Matthew R. Nelson
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News & Views |
Blocking cell death limits lung damage and inflammation from influenza
Animals that receive an inhibitor of an antiviral cell-death response called necroptosis are less likely to die of influenza even at a late stage of infection. This has implications for the development of therapies for respiratory diseases.
- Nishma Gupta
- & John Silke
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News |
How to supercharge cancer-fighting cells: give them stem-cell skills
The bioengineered immune players called CAR T cells last longer and work better if pumped up with a large dose of a protein that makes them resemble stem cells.
- Sara Reardon
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Nature Podcast |
Audio long read: Why are so many young people getting cancer? What the data say
Researchers are scrambling to explain why rates of multiple cancers are increasing among adults under the age of 50.
- Heidi Ledford
- & Benjamin Thompson
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News |
mRNA drug offers hope for treating a devastating childhood disease
Drug trial results show that vaccines aren’t the only use for the mRNA technology behind the most widely used COVID-19 jabs.
- Elie Dolgin
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News |
Diabetes drug slows development of Parkinson’s disease
The drug, which is in the same family as blockbuster weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy, slowed development of symptoms by a small but statistically significant amount.
- David Adam
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Article |
Interim analyses of a first-in-human phase 1/2 mRNA trial for propionic acidaemia
Interim data from a clinical trial of mRNA-3927—an mRNA therapeutic for propionic acidaemia—provide early indications of the safety and efficacy of the treatment, and suggest that this approach might be applicable to other rare diseases.
- Dwight Koeberl
- , Andreas Schulze
- & Stephanie Grunewald
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News Feature |
Long COVID still has no cure — so these patients are turning to research
With key long COVID trials yet to yield results, people with the condition are trying to change how clinical trials are done.
- Rachel Fairbank
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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 |
Depleting myeloid-biased haematopoietic stem cells rejuvenates aged immunity
Antibody-mediated depletion of myeloid-biased haematopoietic stem cells in aged mice restores characteristic features of a more youthful immune system.
- Jason B. Ross
- , Lara M. Myers
- & Irving L. Weissman
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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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News |
First pig kidney transplant in a person: what it means for the future
The operation’s early success has made researchers hopeful that clinical trials for xenotransplanted organs will start soon.
- Smriti Mallapaty
- & Max Kozlov
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News |
Cutting-edge CAR-T cancer therapy is now made in India — at one-tenth the cost
The treatment, called NexCAR19, raises hopes that this transformative class of medicine will become more readily available in low- and middle-income countries.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Spotlight |
China’s medical-device industry gets a makeover
The country is keen to boost its production of medical technology to reduce its reliance on imports. Analysts discuss the impact of policies.
- Sandy Ong
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News & Views |
Whittling down the bacterial subspecies that might drive colon cancer
Understanding the factors that drive formation of particular types of cancer can aid efforts to develop better diagnostics or treatments. The identification of a bacterial subspecies with a connection to colon cancer has clinical relevance.
- Cynthia L. Sears
- & Jessica Queen
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News |
First pig liver transplanted into a person lasts for 10 days
Pig organs could provide temporary detox for people whose livers need time to recover or who are awaiting human donors.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
First US drug approved for a liver disease surging around the world
A therapy called resmetirom improves hallmarks of an obesity-linked condition that can lead to liver failure.
- Heidi Ledford
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Nature Index |
Numbers highlight US dominance in clinical research
Institutions from the country make unrivaled contributions to high-quality health-sciences research in the Nature Index.