Insights

Insight articles are related to original research papers in eLife and explain why the results reported in the paper are significant in a given field of research. Insight articles are commissioned by eLife staff.

Latest articles

    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Tardigrades: Surviving extreme radiation

    Chaitra Shree Udugere Shivakumara Swamy, Thomas C Boothby
    Tiny animals known as tardigrades use a combination of DNA repair machinery and a novel protein to mend their genome after intense ionizing radiation.
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    1. Cell Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Cell Migration: Pump up the volume

    Qin Ni, Sean X Sun
    An influx of water molecules can help immune cells called neutrophils to move to where they are needed in the body.
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    1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Viral Variants: How mutations affect function

    Thomas Kuhlman
    A new study reveals how naturally occurring mutations affect the biophysical properties of nucleocapsid proteins in SARS-CoV-2.
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    1. Computational and Systems Biology

    Protein Kinases: Redox takes control

    Iván Plaza-Menacho
    A study of two enzymes in the brain reveals new insights into how redox reactions regulate the activity of protein kinases.
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    1. Neuroscience

    Behavior: Prompting social investigation

    Emma Keppler, Susanna Molas
    A social memory pathway connecting the ventral hippocampus, the lateral septum and the ventral tegmental area helps to regulate how mice react to unknown individuals.
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    1. Neuroscience

    Vision: Paying attention

    Christian H Poth
    Intentional eye movements depend on where peripheral attention is voluntarily deployed beforehand, but they can be directed elsewhere shortly afterwards.
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    1. Evolutionary Biology

    Synthetic Biology: Shining a light on Ohno’s dilemma

    Isabella Tomanek
    Laboratory experiments on a fluorescent protein in E. coli reveal how duplicate genes are rapidly inactivated by mutations during evolution.
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    1. Plant Biology

    Plant Cell Wall: Interplay between structure and signaling

    David Biermann, Sebastian Wolf
    Modification of pectin, a component of the plant cell wall, is required to facilitate signaling by a RALF peptide, which is essential for many physiological and developmental processes.
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    1. Cell Biology

    Membrane Fusion: A matter of timing

    Zhiqi Tian, Jiajie Diao
    A change in the electric charge of autophagosome membranes controls the recruitment of SNARE proteins to ensure that membrane fusion occurs at the right time during autophagy.
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    1. Cell Biology

    Muscle Cells: Tailoring the taste of cultured meat

    Gyuhyung Jin, Xiaoping Bao
    A new protocol can customize the flavor of lab-grown meat by controlling the level of fat deposited between muscle cells.
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