News & Comment

Advances in atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques and methodologies for microbiology contribute to our understanding of the microbial cell surface. Recent studies show that AFM imaging of cells and membranes at (near) molecular resolution allows detailed visualization of membranes interacting with drugs.

Starting in 2016, we have offered authors the option to publish the comments received from the reviewers and their responses alongside the paper. As we believe that transparency strengthens the quality of peer review, we are now moving to publish the exchanges between authors and reviewers for all research articles submitted from November 2022 onward and accepted for publication. Referees will still have the option to remain completely anonymous, to sign their reports, and/or to choose to be acknowledged by name as part of our reviewer recognition scheme.

Cancer functional genomics is the study of how genetic, epigenetic, and transcriptional alterations affect cancer phenotypes, such as growth and therapeutic response. Here, we comment on how, taking advantage of next generation sequencing, functional genomics, often combined with systems biology approaches, has revealed novel cancer vulnerabilities beyond the original paradigm of one gene-one phenotype.

What is an optimal parameter landscape and geometric layout for a quantum processor so that its qubits are sufficiently protected for idling and simultaneously responsive enough for fast entangling gates? Quantum engineers pondering the dilemma might want to take a look on tools developed for many-body localization.

While passive solar-driven evaporative systems promise higher economic and environmental sustainability in water treatment, many challenges remain for their effective adoption. Here, the author identifies three main pillars and corresponding issues which future research should focus on to bring these technologies to the next maturity level.

Currently approved COVID vaccines are designed using the spike antigen derived from the ancestral strain, but health authorities are recommending changes to the vaccine strain to combat emerging variants. The goal is to ensure that next generation vaccines can tackle multiple variants of concern including the most prevalent variant for the coming season. We here discuss recent preclinical and clinical data on COVID vaccine antigens that are potential candidates for an updated vaccine.

Adolescence is marked by heightened stress exposure and psychopathology, but also vast potential for opportunity. We highlight how researchers can leverage both developmental and individual differences in stress responding and corticolimbic circuitry to optimize interventions during this unique developmental period.

Over the last two and a half years, Nature Communications has received thousands of submissions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and accepted hundreds for publication. To showcase the breadth and quality of this work, we are now launching a COVID-19 Collection, and here we reflect on our editorial processes during this period.

Most organelles move bidirectionally on microtubule tracks, yet how this opposing movement is regulated by kinesin and dynein remains unclear. Recent work found that ARL8, a known anterograde adaptor linking the lysosome to kinesin, also links lysosomes to the retrograde motor dynein, providing key insight into bidirectional organelle movement in cells.

Advances in geospatial and Machine Learning techniques for large datasets of georeferenced observations have made it possible to produce model-based global maps of ecological and environmental variables. However, the implementation of existing scientific methods (especially Machine Learning models) to produce accurate global maps is often complex. Tomislav Hengl (co-founder of OpenGeoHub foundation), Johan van den Hoogen (researcher at ETH Zürich), and Devin Routh (Science IT Consultant at the University of Zürich) shared with Nature Communications their perspectives for creators and users of these maps, focusing on the key challenges in producing global environmental geospatial datasets to achieve significant impacts.

The quest for high-energy electrochemical energy storage systems has driven researchers to look toward highly concentrated electrolytes. Here, the author discusses the recent progress and future perspectives of such electrolytes and their ability to improve the performances of lithium-based batteries.

Chirality of magnons is an intrinsic degree of freedom that characterizes the handedness of spin precession around its equilibrium direction. This commentary summarizes recent progress on spin pumping by ferromagnetic resonance in magnetic heterostructures. In particular, the commentary highlights one fundamental issue in spin pumping: the chirality dependence of the spin current.

CAR T cell therapy is an effective cancer treatment, but biological and manufacturing hurdles hamper its broad breakthrough. Although the first step towards automated manufacture of CAR cells has been taken, new technologies are needed to enable the treatment of large patient groups.

Long-acting IFNα induces durable molecular responses in myeloproliferative neoplasms. Emerging studies, including Saleiro et al. recently published in Nature Communications, have identified promising candidates that may synergise with IFNα by targeting stem cell function or feedback loops that mediate treatment resistance.

In the current monkeypox outbreak, vaccination and treatment of pregnant women are recommended only if the benefits outweigh risks, but the extremely sparse data available limit evidence-based recommendations. We must facilitate a unified consensus approach to rapidly collect robust data. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, monkeypox has emerged as yet another challenge to the mother-fetus dyad, potentially placing both at risk, if exposed.

Climate risk assessments are a key tool in planning for climate change impacts. This commentary examines the current underlying problems with them and puts forward a framework to provide solutions to improve their effectiveness.

A new study finds that Americans underestimate how many are concerned about climate change as well as support for major climate policies by nearly half, with climate policy supporters significantly outnumbering non-supporters.

Recent development of analytical techniques – capable of characterizing physicochemical properties during electrochemical measurements – enables new pathways for improving the fundamental understanding of battery systems. This editorial highlights recent research efforts showcasing operando approaches published in Nature Communications.

In this editorial, we present a checklist that aims to improve the data reproducibility in the field of electrochemical N₂ fixation.

The optoelectronic performance of wide-bandgap semiconductors often cannot compete with that of their defect-tolerant small-bandgap counterpart. Here, the authors outline three main challenges to overcome for mitigating the impact of defects in wide-bandgap semiconductors.