Depriving brain tumours of an amino acid could enhance chemotherapy Summary Researchers report that glioblastoma — the most aggressive adult brain cancer — rewires cortical glucose metabolism and scavenges the…
Damaged bridges flex and twist to prevent collapse Summary Steel truss bridges — built from connected elements in a framework — can sometimes survive the sudden failure of a load-bearing…
The diversity of microbial enzymes that turn a pollutant into an inert gas Summary Researchers report a previously unknown family of bacterial proteins that catalyse the reduction of nitrous oxide…
Cocaine-activated ion channels engineered to break the loop of addiction in rats Summary Researchers have engineered ion channels that are selectively activated by cocaine and used them to reprogramme neural…
Multiple overlapping binding sites determine transcription factor occupancy Summary This Nature paper introduces PADIT-seq, a high-throughput in vitro method that assays transcription factor (TF) binding to all possible 10-base sequences.…
Genetic suppression features ABHD18 as a Barth syndrome therapeutic target Summary This Nature paper uses genome-wide genetic suppression screens, biochemical analysis and in vivo models to identify ABHD18 (an α/β-hydrolase…
PICALM Alzheimer’s risk allele causes aberrant lipid droplets in microglia Summary This Nature paper uses allele-specific open chromatin mapping (ASoC) in human iPSC-derived brain cells to prioritise functional non-coding Alzheimer’s…
Amygdala–liver signalling orchestrates glycaemic responses to stress Summary This Nature paper identifies a medial amygdala (MeA) → ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) → sympathetic → liver axis that rapidly mobilises glucose in…
3D-printed micro ion trap technology for quantum information applications Summary This Nature paper reports the design, fabrication and characterisation of micro ion traps made by high-resolution 3D printing (two-photon polymerisation)…
Adaptive and context-aware volumetric printing Summary This paper presents GRACE (Generative, Adaptive, Context-Aware 3D Printing), a workflow that combines tomographic volumetric printing with light-sheet imaging, computer vision and parametric modelling…
