Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in late 2019 in China and caused a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To mitigate the public health, economic and societal impacts of the virus, a vaccine is urgently needed. The development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines was initiated in early January 2020 when the sequence of the virus became available and moved at record speed

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an emerging respiratory infection caused by introduction of a novel coronavirus into humans in late 2019 in China’s Hubei province. As of September 11, 2020, SARS-CoV-2 has spread to 215 countries, has infected more than 28 million people, and has caused more than 910,000 deaths

Current hardware approaches to biomimetic or neuromorphic artificial intelligence rely on elaborate transistor circuits to simulate biological functions. However, these can instead be more faithfully emulated by higher-order circuit elements that naturally express neuromorphic nonlinear dynamics1,2,3,4. Generating neuromorphic action potentials in a circuit element theoretically requires a minimum

More than half of Earth’s freshwater resources are held by the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which thus represents by far the largest potential source for global sea-level rise under future warming conditions1. Its long-term stability determines the fate of our coastal cities and cultural heritage. Feedbacks between ice, atmosphere, ocean, and the solid Earth give rise to potential nonlinearities in its response

The genetic circuits that allow cancer cells to evade destruction by the host immune system remain poorly understood1,2,3. Here, to identify a phenotypically robust core set of genes and pathways that enable cancer cells to evade killing mediated by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), we performed genome-wide CRISPR screens across a panel of genetically diverse mouse cancer cell lines that were cultured

The consolidation of spatial memory depends on the reactivation (‘replay’) of hippocampal place cells that were active during recent behaviour. Such reactivation is observed during sharp-wave ripples (SWRs)—synchronous oscillatory electrical events that occur during non-rapid-eye-movement (non-REM) sleep1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and whose disruption impairs spatial memory3,5,6,8. Although the hippocampus also

Self-assembling colloidal particles in the cubic diamond crystal structure could potentially be used to make materials with a photonic bandgap1,2,3. Such materials are beneficial because they suppress spontaneous emission of light1 and are valued for their applications as optical waveguides, filters and laser resonators4, for improving light-harvesting technologies5,6,7 and for other applications4

The three-dimensional organization of the genome supports regulated gene expression, recombination, DNA repair, and chromosome segregation during mitosis. Chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C)1,2 analysis has revealed a complex genomic landscape of internal chromosomal structures in vertebrate cells3,4,5,6,7, but the identical sequence of sister chromatids has made it difficult to determine how they

Psychological research shows that social comparison of individuals with peers or others shapes attitude formation1,2. Opportunities for such comparisons have increased with global inequality3,4; everyday experiences can make economic disparities more salient through signals of social class5,6. Here we show that, among individuals with a lower socioeconomic status, such local exposure to inequality

CpG methylation by de novo DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) 3A and 3B is essential for mammalian development and differentiation and is frequently dysregulated in cancer1. These two DNMTs preferentially bind to nucleosomes, yet cannot methylate the DNA wrapped around the nucleosome core2, and they favour the methylation of linker DNA at positioned nucleosomes3,4. Here we present the cryo-electron microscopy

Magnetic skyrmions are topological solitons with a nanoscale winding spin texture that hold promise for spintronics applications1,2,3,4. Skyrmions have so far been observed in a variety of magnets that exhibit nearly parallel alignment for neighbouring spins, but theoretically skyrmions with anti-parallel neighbouring spins are also possible. Such antiferromagnetic skyrmions may allow more flexible

Current understandings of cell specification in early mammalian pre-implantation development are based mainly on mouse studies. The first lineage differentiation event occurs at the morula stage, with outer cells initiating a trophectoderm (TE) placental progenitor program. The inner cell mass arises from inner cells during subsequent developmental stages and comprises precursor cells of the embryo

Natural products serve as chemical blueprints for most antibiotics in clinical use. The evolutionary process by which these molecules arise is inherently accompanied by the co-evolution of resistance mechanisms that shorten the clinical lifetime of any given class of antibiotics1. Virginiamycin acetyltransferase (Vat) enzymes are resistance proteins that provide protection against streptogramins2,

To constrain global warming, we must strongly curtail greenhouse gas emissions and capture excess atmospheric carbon dioxide1,2. Regrowing natural forests is a prominent strategy for capturing additional carbon3, but accurate assessments of its potential are limited by uncertainty and variability in carbon accumulation rates2,3. To assess why and where rates differ, here we compile 13,112 georeferenced

‘Dysbiosis’ of the maternal gut microbiome, in response to challenges such as infection1, altered diet2 and stress3 during pregnancy, has been increasingly associated with abnormalities in brain function and behaviour of the offspring4. However, it is unclear whether the maternal gut microbiome influences neurodevelopment during critical prenatal periods and in the absence of environmental challenges

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) greatly expand the structures and functions of proteins in nature1,2. Although synthetic protein functionalization strategies allow mimicry of PTMs3,4, as well as formation of unnatural protein variants with diverse potential functions, including drug carrying5, tracking, imaging6 and partner crosslinking7, the range of functional groups that can be introduced

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous disease of the intestinal epithelium that is characterized by the accumulation of mutations and a dysregulated immune response. Up to 90% of disease risk is thought to be due to environmental factors such as diet, which is consistent with a growing body of literature that describes an ‘oncogenic’ CRC-associated microbiota. Whether this dysbiosis contributes

Cell death in human diseases is often a consequence of disrupted cellular homeostasis. If cell death is prevented without restoring cellular homeostasis, it may lead to a persistent dysfunctional and pathological state. Although mechanisms of cell death have been thoroughly investigated1,2,3, it remains unclear how homeostasis can be restored after inhibition of cell death. Here we identify TRADD4

The direction of the eye gaze of others is a prominent social cue in primates and is important for communication1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. Although gaze can signal threat and elicit anxiety6,12,13, it remains unclear whether it shares neural circuitry with stimulus value. Notably, gaze not only has valence, but can also serve as a predictor of the outcome of a social encounter, which can be either negative

Thermophotovoltaic cells are similar to solar cells, but instead of converting solar radiation to electricity, they are designed to utilize locally radiated heat. Development of high-efficiency thermophotovoltaic cells has the potential to enable widespread applications in grid-scale thermal energy storage1,2, direct solar energy conversion3,4,5,6,7,8, distributed co-generation9,10,11 and waste heat

SARS-CoV-2 infection is initiated by virus binding to ACE2 cell surface receptors1–4, followed by fusion of virus and cell membranes to release the virus genome into the cell. Both receptor binding and membrane fusion activities are mediated by the virus Spike glycoprotein, S5–7. As with other class I membrane fusion proteins, S is post-translationally cleaved, in this case by furin, into S1 and S2

Viperin is an interferon-induced cellular protein conserved in animals1. It was shown to inhibit the replication of multiple viruses by producing a ribonucleotide called 3’-deoxy-3’4’-didehydro-CTP (ddhCTP), which acts as a chain terminator for the viral RNA polymerase2. Here we show that the eukaryotic viperin has originated from a clade of bacterial and archaeal proteins that protect against phage

The field of plasmonics, which studies the resonant interactions of electromagnetic waves and free electrons in solid-state materials1, has yet to be put to large-scale commercial application2 owing to the large amount of loss that usually occurs in plasmonic materials3. Organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs)4,5,6,7 have been incorporated into billions of commercial products because of their good colour

Array programming provides a powerful, compact and expressive syntax for accessing, manipulating and operating on data in vectors, matrices and higher-dimensional arrays. NumPy is the primary array programming library for the Python language. It has an essential role in research analysis pipelines in fields as diverse as physics, chemistry, astronomy, geoscience, biology, psychology, materials science

Epithelial organoids, such as those derived from stem cells of the intestine, have great potential for modelling tissue and disease biology1,2,3,4. However, the approaches that are used at present to derive these organoids in three-dimensional matrices5,6 result in stochastically developing tissues with a closed, cystic architecture that restricts lifespan and size, limits experimental manipulation

Advanced imaging methods now allow cell-type-specific recording of neural activity across the mammalian brain, potentially enabling the exploration of how brain-wide dynamical patterns give rise to complex behavioural states1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. Dissociation is an altered behavioural state in which the integrity of experience is disrupted, resulting in reproducible cognitive phenomena including

The maritime expansion of Scandinavian populations during the Viking Age (about ad 750–1050) was a far-flung transformation in world history1,2. Here we sequenced the genomes of 442 humans from archaeological sites across Europe and Greenland (to a median depth of about 1×) to understand the global influence of this expansion. We find the Viking period involved gene flow into Scandinavia from the south

The reprogramming of human somatic cells to primed or naive induced pluripotent stem cells recapitulates the stages of early embryonic development1,2,3,4,5,6. The molecular mechanism that underpins these reprogramming processes remains largely unexplored, which impedes our understanding and limits rational improvements to reprogramming protocols. Here, to address these issues, we reconstruct molecular

Climate and physiology shape biogeography, yet the range limits of species can rarely be ascribed to the quantitative traits of organisms1,2,3. Here we evaluate whether the geographical range boundaries of species coincide with ecophysiological limits to acquisition of aerobic energy4 for a global cross-section of the biodiversity of marine animals. We observe a tight correlation between the metabolic

Ultrasound detectors use high-frequency sound waves to image objects and measure distances, but the resolution of these readings is limited by the physical dimensions of the detecting element. Point-like broadband ultrasound detection can greatly increase the resolution of ultrasonography and optoacoustic (photoacoustic) imaging1,2, but current ultrasound detectors, such as those used for medical imaging

Breaks in DNA strands recruit the protein PARP1 and its paralogue PARP2 to modify histones and other substrates through the addition of mono- and poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR)1,2,3,4,5. In the DNA damage responses, this post-translational modification occurs predominantly on serine residues6,7,8 and requires HPF1, an accessory factor that switches the amino acid specificity of PARP1 and PARP2 from aspartate

Ferroptosis—an iron-dependent, non-apoptotic cell death process—is involved in various degenerative diseases and represents a targetable susceptibility in certain cancers1. The ferroptosis-susceptible cell state can either pre-exist in cells that arise from certain lineages or be acquired during cell-state transitions2,3,4,5. However, precisely how susceptibility to ferroptosis is dynamically regulated

Persistent neural activity in cortical, hippocampal, and motor networks has been described as mediating working memory for transiently encountered stimuli1,2. Internal emotional states, such as fear, also persist following exposure to an inciting stimulus3, but it is unclear whether slow neural dynamics are involved in this process. Neurons in the dorsomedial and central subdivisions of the ventromedial

The non-dissipative nonlinearity of Josephson junctions1 converts macroscopic superconducting circuits into artificial atoms2, enabling some of the best-controlled qubits today3,4. Three fundamental types of superconducting qubit are known5, each reflecting a distinct behaviour of quantum fluctuations in a Cooper pair condensate: single-charge tunnelling (charge qubit6,7), single-flux tunnelling (flux

Insect eyes have an anti-reflective coating, owing to nanostructures on the corneal surface creating a gradient of refractive index between that of air and that of the lens material1,2. These nanocoatings have also been shown to provide anti-adhesive functionality3. The morphology of corneal nanocoatings are very diverse in arthropods, with nipple-like structures that can be organized into arrays or

Malaria has had a major effect on the human genome, with many protective polymorphisms—such as the sickle-cell trait—having been selected to high frequencies in malaria-endemic regions1,2. The blood group variant Dantu provides 74% protection against all forms of severe malaria in homozygous individuals3,4,5, a similar degree of protection to that afforded by the sickle-cell trait and considerably

Astronomers have discovered thousands of planets outside the Solar System1, most of which orbit stars that will eventually evolve into red giants and then into white dwarfs. During the red giant phase, any close-orbiting planets will be engulfed by the star2, but more distant planets can survive this phase and remain in orbit around the white dwarf3,4. Some white dwarfs show evidence for rocky material

Neural crest cells (NCCs) are migratory, multipotent embryonic cells that are unique to vertebrates and form an array of clade-defining adult features. The evolution of NCCs has been linked to various genomic events, including the evolution of new gene-regulatory networks1,2, the de novo evolution of genes3 and the proliferation of paralogous genes during genome-wide duplication events4. However, conclusive

The MAPK/ERK kinase MEK is a shared effector of the frequent cancer drivers KRAS and BRAF that has long been pursued as a drug target in oncology1, and more recently in immunotherapy2,3 and aging4. However, many MEK inhibitors (MEKi) are limited due to on-target toxicities5–7 and drug resistance8–10. Accordingly, a molecular understanding of the structure and function of MEK within physiological complexes

The DNA sensor cGAS initiates innate immune responses following microbial infection, cellular stress, and cancer1. Upon activation by double-stranded DNA, cytosolic cGAS produces 2’3’ cyclic GMP-AMP and triggers inflammatory cytokine and type I interferon (IFN) induction2–7. cGAS is also present inside the cell nucleus replete with genomic DNA8, where chromatin has been implicated in restricting its

Pathogen-derived nucleic acids induce potent innate immune responses1–6. Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) is a dsDNA sensor that catalyzes the synthesis of a cyclic dinucleotide cGAMP, which mediates the induction of type I interferons through the STING-TBK1-IRF3 signaling axis7–11. It was widely accepted that cGAS is not reactive to self-DNA due to its cytosolic localization2,12,13. However, recent

cGAS (cyclic GMP–AMP synthase) is an innate immune sensor for cytosolic microbial DNA1. Upon binding DNA, it synthesizes the messenger cGAMP (2’3’ cyclic GMP–AMP)2–4, which triggers cell-autonomous defense and the production of type I interferons and pro-inflammatory cytokines via activation of STING5. Besides responding to cytosolic microbial DNA, cGAS also recognizes mis-localized cytosolic self-DNA

Increased efforts are required to prevent further losses to terrestrial biodiversity and the ecosystem services that it provides1,2. Ambitious targets have been proposed, such as reversing the declining trends in biodiversity3; however, just feeding the growing human population will make this a challenge4. Here we use an ensemble of land-use and biodiversity models to assess whether—and how—humanity

Mitochondria require nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) in order to carry out the fundamental processes that fuel respiration and mediate cellular energy transduction. Mitochondrial NAD+ transporters have been identified in yeast and plants1,2 but their very existence is controversial in mammals3–5. Here we demonstrate that mammalian mitochondria are capable of taking up intact NAD+ and identify

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)1–3 are known for their specific interactions with gas molecules4,5; combined with their rich and ordered porosity, this makes them promising candidates for the photocatalytic conversion of gas molecules to useful products6. Attempts to use MOFs or MOF-based composites for CO2 photoreduction6–13, however, usually result in far lower CO2 conversion efficiency compared

Hydrogen, the simplest and most abundant element in the Universe, develops a remarkably complex behaviour upon compression1. Since Wigner predicted the dissociation and metallization of solid hydrogen at megabar pressures almost a century ago2, several efforts have been made to explain the many unusual properties of dense hydrogen, including a rich and poorly understood solid polymorphism1,3,4,5, an

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the ongoing Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic1. In order to understand SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity and antigenic potential, and to develop therapeutic tools, it is essential to portray the full repertoire of its expressed proteins. The SARS-CoV-2 coding capacity map is currently based on computational predictions and

The successful operation of quantum computers relies on protecting qubits from decoherence and noise, which—if uncorrected—will lead to erroneous results. Because these errors accumulate during an algorithm, correcting them is a key requirement for large-scale and fault-tolerant quantum information processors. Besides computational errors, which can be addressed by quantum error correction1,2,3,4,5

The dominant gaseous structure in the Galactic halo is the Magellanic Stream. This extended network of neutral and ionized filaments surrounds the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), the two most massive satellite galaxies of the Milky Way1,2,3,4. Recent observations indicate that the LMC and SMC are on their first passage around the Galaxy5, that the Magellanic Stream

Thermal management is one of the main challenges for the future of electronics1,2,3,4,5. With the ever-increasing rate of data generation and communication, as well as the constant push to reduce the size and costs of industrial converter systems, the power density of electronics has risen6. Consequently, cooling, with its enormous energy and water consumption, has an increasingly large environmental

Despite its size and rigidity, the cell nucleus can be moved or reorganized by cytoskeletal filaments under various conditions (for example, during viral infection)1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. Moreover, whereas chromatin organizes into non-random domains12, extensive heterogeneity at the single-cell level13 means that precisely how and why nuclei reorganize remains an area of intense investigation. Here

Isoprene is the dominant non-methane organic compound emitted to the atmosphere1,2,3. It drives ozone and aerosol production, modulates atmospheric oxidation and interacts with the global nitrogen cycle4,5,6,7,8. Isoprene emissions are highly uncertain1,9, as is the nonlinear chemistry coupling isoprene and the hydroxyl radical, OH—its primary sink10,11,12,13. Here we present global isoprene measurements

Endothelial cells adopt tissue-specific characteristics to instruct organ development and regeneration1,2. This adaptability is lost in cultured adult endothelial cells, which do not vascularize tissues in an organotypic manner. Here, we show that transient reactivation of the embryonic-restricted ETS variant transcription factor 2 (ETV2)3 in mature human endothelial cells cultured in a serum-free three-dimensional

Nuclear compartments have diverse roles in regulating gene expression, yet the molecular forces and components that drive compartment formation remain largely unclear1. The long non-coding RNA Xist establishes an intra-chromosomal compartment by localizing at a high concentration in a territory spatially close to its transcription locus2 and binding diverse proteins3,4,5 to achieve X-chromosome inactivation

Advances in machine learning and contactless sensors have given rise to ambient intelligence—physical spaces that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of humans. Here we review how this technology could improve our understanding of the metaphorically dark, unobserved spaces of healthcare. In hospital spaces, early applications could soon enable more efficient clinical workflows and improved

The RNA polymerase II (Pol II) core promoter is the strategic site of convergence of the signals that lead to the initiation of DNA transcription1,2,3,4,5, but the downstream core promoter in humans has been difficult to understand1,2,3. Here we analyse the human Pol II core promoter and use machine learning to generate predictive models for the downstream core promoter region (DPR) and the TATA box

Platinum is a much used catalyst that, in petrochemical processes, is often alloyed with other metals to improve catalytic activity, selectivity and longevity1,2,3,4,5. Such catalysts are usually prepared in the form of metallic nanoparticles supported on porous solids, and their production involves reducing metal precursor compounds under a H2 flow at high temperatures6. The method works well when

Genomic instability is a hallmark of cancer, and has a central role in the initiation and development of breast cancer1,2. The success of poly-ADP ribose polymerase inhibitors in the treatment of breast cancers that are deficient in homologous recombination exemplifies the utility of synthetically lethal genetic interactions in the treatment of breast cancers that are driven by genomic instability3

Centrosomes catalyse the formation of microtubules needed to assemble the mitotic spindle apparatus1. Centrosomes themselves duplicate once per cell cycle, in a process that is controlled by the serine/threonine protein kinase PLK4 (refs. 2,3). When PLK4 is chemically inhibited, cell division proceeds without centrosome duplication, generating centrosome-less cells that exhibit delayed, acentrosomal