Featured
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Nature Podcast |
Briefing Chat: ‘Zombie cells’ resurrected with new genes
Nature staff discuss some of the week’s top science news.
- Shamini Bundell
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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News & Views |
Dogs have deep genetic roots in ice-age Europe
Two studies report the oldest dog genomes ever to be sequenced, representing leaps in scientists’ understanding of the animal’s origins.
- Lauren M. Hennelly
- & Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding
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Article
| Open Access
Genomic history of early dogs in Europe
Genome-wide analysis shows European dogs existed by 14,200 years ago, were already genetically distinct, received less Neolithic Southwest Asian admixture than humans did and contributed substantially to later European dogs.
- Anders Bergström
- , Anja Furtwängler
- & Pontus Skoglund
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News |
Who let the wolves in? Genetic record for domestic dogs pushed back by 5,000 years
The oldest dog genomes on record all come from a population that lived alongside Ice Age hunter-gatherers across Europe and the Middle East.
- Ewen Callaway
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Article
| Open Access
Dogs were widely distributed across western Eurasia during the Palaeolithic
Analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes from archaeological canid remains found across Europe and Anatolia shows that a genetically homogeneous dog population was already widely distributed across the region by 15,000 years ago.
- William A. Marsh
- , Lachie Scarsbrook
- & Laurent A. F. Frantz
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Article
| Open Access
The DNA virome varies with human genes and environments
Analyses of biobank data show that human variation such as age, sex and genetics, particularly at the major histocompatibility complex locus, is associated with viral abundance and supports a causal link between abundance of Epstein–Barr virus and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
- Nolan Kamitaki
- , David Tang
- & Po-Ru Loh
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News |
‘Zombie cells’ return from the dead — after a genome transplant
Technique that inserts the genome of one bacterial species into the ‘dead’ cells of another could open doors for synthetic biologists.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
Can a mouse be cloned indefinitely? Decades-long experiment has answers
Repeated cloning from a single mouse failed after 58 generations. Researchers say harmful DNA changes are to blame.
- Heidi Ledford
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News Feature |
How DNA in dirt is shaking up the study of human origins
Researchers are pulling clues from genetic material in ice age soils and rewriting chapters of human history.
- Dyani Lewis
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News |
Masked mitochondria slip into cells to treat disease in mice
Transplantation technique lengthened survival in animals with an often-fatal mitochondrial disease.
- Edward Chen
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Research Briefing |
Genome editing that avoids immune detection to integrate large DNA sequences
A genome-editing approach called INSTALL combines single-stranded DNA molecules that evade immune detection with a short double-stranded region that allows recombinase enzymes to insert a DNA sequence into mammalian genomes. INSTALL enables the insertion of large DNA sequences into the genomes of human and mouse cells without causing toxic immune responses.
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Research Briefing |
Our microbial ancestors were probably oxygen-tolerant
Genomic analysis has unexpectedly revealed that microorganisms called Asgard archaea, the closest relative of our cellular ancestors, can respire using oxygen. This suggests that the common ancestor of these modern archaea and nucleus-containing eukaryotic cells could have been oxygen-tolerant, contrary to previous models of the origins of complex life.
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News |
Youthful antics predict lifespan — at least for these fish
Activity levels and daytime sleepiness can be combined into a ‘behavioural clock’ that predicts whether a fish will have a short life or a long one.
- Gemma Conroy
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News |
No such thing as a shark? Genomes shake up ocean predator’s family tree
Sharks might not be a natural biological group, with most species potentially closer kin to rays than to an oddball group of sharks.
- Ewen Callaway
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Nature Podcast |
This fish shouldn’t exist — the weird genetics of clonal vertebrates
A study reveals how the asexual Amazon molly defies evolutionary expectations — plus, evidence of what might be powering superluminous supernovae.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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News & Views |
How an all-female fish species defies evolutionary expectations
Asexual reproduction should be an evolutionary dead end. A study of asexual fish shows that a genetic ‘copy and paste’ helps to overcome the predicted costs of asexuality.
- Waldir M. Berbel-Filho
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Article |
Gene conversion empowers natural selection in a clonal fish species
Analysis of the asexually reproducing Amazon molly Poecilia formosa and its sexually reproducing progenitors Poecilia mexicana and Poecilia latipinna reveals that it maintains a divergent mutational landscape and has evaded functional mutational decay via gene conversion.
- Edward S. Ricemeyer
- , Nathan K. Schaefer
- & Wesley C. Warren
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Article
| Open Access
A sorghum pangenome reference improves global crop trait discovery
A pangenome reference for the phenotypically diverse crop sorghum aims to help accelerate future efforts to breed crops that are better adapted to changing environments.
- Geoffrey P. Morris
- , Avril M. Harder
- & John T. Lovell
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Article
| Open Access
A mechanism to initiate emergency type 2 myelopoiesis
Myelopoiesis in response to a parasitic worm infection and the mechanism selective to this form of parasite are revealed.
- Alexandre Fagnan
- , Cristina Di Genua
- & Claus Nerlov
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Research Highlight |
Live parrots were carried across the Andes before the Incas’ rise
Ancient DNA and other clues from feathers found in modern Peru hint that the ancient Ychsma culture imported birds from the distant Amazon.
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News |
Daily multivitamin slows signs of biological ageing
The supplement’s anti-ageing effect was greater in people who were already biologically older than their years.
- Jacob Smith
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News |
Identical twins on trial: can DNA testing tell them apart?
In a French criminal trial, conventional DNA analysis couldn’t distinguish between twin brothers, but emerging scientific methods could help in such cases.
- Rachel Fieldhouse
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Spotlight |
Inside Mexico’s stem-cell industry
Researchers in the country are calling for stronger regulation of treatments that many people make long journeys to receive.
- Gemma Conroy
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News |
How these koalas bounced back from the brink of extinction
Tracking DNA recombination offers hope for other species that have lost genetic diversity.
- Mohana Basu
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News |
AI can write genomes — how long until it creates synthetic life?
The Evo2 genomic language model can generate short genome sequences, but scientists say further advances are needed to write genomes that will work inside living cells.
- Ewen Callaway
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Article
| Open Access
Genome modelling and design across all domains of life with Evo 2
Evo 2 is an artificial intelligence-based biological foundation model trained on 9 trillion DNA base pairs spanning all domains of life that predicts functional properties from genomic sequences and provides a rich generative model for researchers in biology.
- Garyk Brixi
- , Matthew G. Durrant
- & Brian L. Hie
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Article
| Open Access
Limited thermal tolerance in tropical insects and its genomic signature
A survey of tropical insect populations and thermal tolerance limits indicates that species from lowland areas have low capacity to survive increased temperatures, and that thermal tolerance is limited by fundamental properties of protein architecture.
- Kim L. Holzmann
- , Thomas Schmitzer
- & Marcell K. Peters
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News & Views |
How can fast-evolving DNA retain a fundamental function in cell division?
In a dividing cell, chromosome pairs are pulled apart thanks to attachment sites called centromeres. Yeast genomes reveal key steps in how centromeres have evolved.
- Adele L. Marston
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News |
Is a ‘selfish gene’ making a Utah family have twice as many boys as girls?
Genealogy study claims first conclusive case of sex ‘distortion’ in humans — but not all researchers are convinced.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
This compound enhances long-term memory of mice — but only in females
Acetate helps the female rodents form memories but is less effective in males.
- Mohana Basu
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News |
Neanderthal dad, human mum: study reveals ancient procreation pattern
Genomic analysis shows that interbreeding between female Neanderthals and male humans was less common than the opposite combination.
- Freda Kreier
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News |
Health effects linger 20 generations after rats are exposed to fungicide
Scientists say the findings are a warning about the kinds of chemical that people are exposed to in the environment.
- Rachel Fieldhouse
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Article
| Open Access
Functional dissection of complex trait variants at single-nucleotide resolution
Massively parallel reporter assays across five cell types identify thousands of causal, noncoding regulatory variants among 220,000 loci, revealing diverse regulatory mechanisms shaping complex traits and disease.
- Layla Siraj
- , Rodrigo I. Castro
- & Ryan Tewhey
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Article
| Open Access
Host control of persistent Epstein–Barr virus infection
Using blood-based genome sequence data, non-genetic and genetic factors associated with control of Epstein–Barr virus during persistent infection are reported.
- Axel Schmidt
- , T. Madhusankha Alawathurage
- & Kerstin U. Ludwig
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News & Views |
Malaria is hindered by repression of a cell-cycle protein
A genetic variant that quashes cyclin D3 expression might have been selected for in a population on an island where malaria was once endemic.
- Gavin Band
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Article
| Open Access
Reduced cyclin D3 expression in erythroid cells protects against malaria
Population-level analyses and in vitro experiments show that a specific genetic variant of cyclin D3 inhibits the growth of the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum in erythrocytes, and suggest that its high frequency in Sardinia was driven by past endemic malaria.
- Maria Giuseppina Marini
- , Maura Mingoia
- & Francesco Cucca
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News & Views |
AI succeeds in diagnosing rare diseases
An artificial-intelligence system uses clinical data, genetic information and literature searches to suggest diagnoses and provides the underlying reasoning.
- Timo Lassmann
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News & Views |
Gene editing treats a mouse model of a neurodevelopmental disorder
An approach that specifically targets a single nucleotide corrected behavioural abnormalities in an animal model of Snijders Blok–Campeau syndrome.
- Kevin J. Bender
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Article
| Open Access
Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres
Evolutionarily related ‘proto-point’ centromeres providing resolution to the evolutionary origins of point centromeres are identified in yeast, and comparison shows they evolved in an ancestor with retrotransposon-rich centromeres and that long-terminal-repeat retrotransposons are the genetic substrate.
- Max A. B. Haase
- , Luciana Lazar-Stefanita
- & Jef D. Boeke
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Article
| Open Access
Single-cell and isoform-specific translational profiling of the mouse brain
Post-transcriptional regulation of mRNA translation was explored using Ribo-STAMP and single-cell RNA sequencing to reveal cell-type-specific and isoform-specific translation patterns across hippocampal neuronal and non-neuronal cell types, highlighting functional differences between CA1 and CA3.
- Samantha L. Sison
- , Federico Zampa
- & Giordano Lippi
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Article
| Open Access
Ancestry and somatic profile indicate acral melanoma origin and prognosis
Analysis of the somatic and transcriptomic profile of 123 acral melanoma samples from Mexican patients helps understand tumour origins and prognosis, and highlights the importance of including samples from diverse ancestries in cancer genomics studies.
- Patricia Basurto-Lozada
- , Martha Estefania Vázquez-Cruz
- & Carla Daniela Robles-Espinoza
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News |
Hunter-gatherers took refuge in European ‘water world’ for millennia
Ancient inhabitants of the Rhine–Meuse river delta resisted population shifts that transformed most of Europe — until they helped to catalyse the expansion of ‘Bell Beaker’ culture.
- Ewen Callaway
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Article |
Lasting Lower Rhine–Meuse forager ancestry shaped Bell Beaker expansion
A distinctive population with high hunter-gatherer ancestry persisted 3,000 years later than in most European regions, contributing to later Lower Rhine–Meuse Bell Beaker users.
- Iñigo Olalde
- , Eveline Altena
- & David Reich
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Research Briefing |
Common genetic variants affect risk of a major cause of pregnancy loss
Genetic data from 139,416 human embryos were used to characterize chromosomal abnormalities, called aneuploidies, that underlie many cases of pregnancy loss. This approach revealed a relationship between aneuploidy and the exchange of DNA between chromosomes during female meiosis and egg formation, and identified common maternal genetic variants associated with meiotic errors.
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Article
| Open Access
Phenome-wide analysis of copy number variants in 470,727 UK Biobank genomes
A multiancestry phenome-wide analysis of copy number variants in the UK Biobank genomes increases power to detect genetic associations with complex traits across human populations.
- Xueqing Zoe Zou
- , Fengyuan Hu
- & Keren Carss
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Article
| Open Access
Efficient near-telomere-to-telomere assembly of nanopore simplex reads
A genome assembly method called hifiasm (ONT) allows the assembly of chromosomes from telomere to telomere without the need for ultra-long reads, and outperforms conventional methods on most evaluation metrics.
- Haoyu Cheng
- , Han Qu
- & Heng Li
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Nature Podcast |
Briefing Chat: What Brazilian centenarians could reveal about the science of ageing
Nature staff discuss some of the week’s top science news.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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News |
How DeepMind’s genome AI could help solve rare-disease mysteries
Hackathons using AlphaGenome and other AI models are hunting down the genetic causes of devastating conditions that have evaded diagnosis.
- Ewen Callaway
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Research Highlight |
Genetically engineered ‘stinkweed’ comes up roses for making seed oil
Field pennycress could become a valuable winter crop, with benefits for both carbon storage and farm profitability.
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