Reviews & Analysis

Reactions have been discovered that selectively transform nitrogen-containing rings, called pyrimidines, into various other ring systems — enabling rapid preparation of compound libraries for pharmaceutical research.

The discovery of a rib fragment from Baishiya Karst Cave greatly extends the presence of Denisovan hominins on the Tibetan Plateau. In-depth analyses of fossilized animal bones from the same site show that Denisovans made full use of the available animal resources.

A record spanning two millennia of Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures has revealed the extent to which 2023 was anomalously hot. The finding is a striking confirmation of warming since the pre-industrial period.

Ancient specimens of a previously undescribed species of four-limbed vertebrate fill a gap in the fossil record. The evidence offers surprises about where, when and how these ancestral relatives of humans evolved.

A compound has been discovered that increases the potency and duration of action of naloxone, a drug used to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses — possibly opening up another way to save lives.

Structural insights into how anti-tuberculosis drugs interact with the enzyme that makes ATP in bacteria and humans pave the way for improved drug design to treat the disease and combat antimicrobial resistance.

This Review considers developments in enzymes, biosynthetic pathways and cellular engineering that enable their use in catalysis for new chemistry and beyond.

The mention of a ‘scotoscope’ in Samuel Pepys’s diary is a subject of scrutiny, and Americans satiate British oyster lovers, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.

Lasers are essential in scientific laboratories and medical clinics across the globe, but integrating them into other technologies is not easy. A material platform that puts a standard laser on a microchip offers a solution.

Rhombohedral boron nitride films have a unique combination of properties that make them desirable in electronic and optical applications. An innovative method can be used to create particularly promising large-scale single crystals, bringing the films much closer to real-world applications.

Insect respiration is commonly thought to rely solely on direct gas exchange through air-filled tracheal tubes. The discovery of oxygen-transporting blood cells in fly larvae reveals a previously unknown way to oxygenate fly tissues.

Carbon storage in Earth’s oceans is controlled by deep-sea mixing processes, but the details have proved difficult to test. Ambitious efforts to track ocean mixing using dye have now demonstrated the pivotal role of the sea floor.

RNA-guided recombinase enzymes have been discovered that herald a new chapter for genome editing — enabling the insertion, inversion or deletion of long DNA sequences at user-specified genome positions.

Models of the human brain’s cortex have been made by combining cells from up to five donors. This approach could enable genetic background to be accounted for in studies of brain development and disease.

Amphibian species around the world are threatened with extinction by the deadly fungal disease chytridiomycosis. A simple, low-cost solution to provide warm conditions enables frogs to clear the infection and remain disease free.

Sea sponges were among the first animals to evolve. But, perplexingly, they left few early fossils despite having dense yet porous bodies. The Ediacaran fossil Helicolocellus cantori is interpreted as having been a glass sponge without biomineralized spicules (little spikes made of glass) to support its body.

Imports threaten the natural environment of Darwin’s favourite islands, and a reader ponders the longevity of carps, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.

Controlled infection with SARS-CoV-2 of people who hadn’t previously been exposed to the virus reveals how molecular and cellular signatures of the immune response portend effective defence against COVID-19.

A sheet of graphene sandwiched between electrolytes can host independently tunable proton and electron currents — setting the stage for a device that serves both computer-memory and logic functions.

A little-studied sensory structure called the Krause corpuscle is responsible for detecting light touch and is essential for normal sexual behaviour in mice. The findings have interesting implications for human sexual intimacy.