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. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Viruses: How herpes is assembled

    Dawid S Zyla
    A combination of imaging techniques reveals how herpes simplex virus type 1 assembles within infected cells, highlighting the roles of essential viral proteins in viral assembly and exit.
    Version of Record
    Insight
    1. Neuroscience

    Metabolism: Insulin control in fruit flies

    Omowumi Kayode
    Investigating how the production of insulin is regulated in fruit flies reveals surprising insights that may help to better understand how this process unfolds in humans.
    Version of Record
    Insight
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Vascular Development: Enhancing our understanding of endothelial cells

    Guillermo Luxán
    What determines whether an endothelial cell becomes part of an artery, a vein or a capillary?
    Version of Record
    Insight
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Cellular Energy Production: Mycofactocin and the mycobacterial electron transport chain

    Stephanie M Stuteley, Ghader Bashiri
    In the bacterium M. smegmatis, an enzyme called MftG allows the cofactor mycofactocin to transfer electrons released during ethanol metabolism to the electron transport chain.
    Version of Record
    Insight
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Transcription: The plusses and minuses of DNA torsion

    Steven Henikoff, David L Levens
    A new method for mapping torsion provides insights into the ways that the genome responds to the torsion generated by RNA polymerase II.
    Version of Record
    Insight
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Neurodegeneration: A role for RNA knots in Alzheimer’s disease

    Silvia Galli, Marco Di Antonio
    The buildup of knot-like RNA structures in brain cells may be the key to understanding how uncontrolled protein aggregation drives Alzheimer’s disease.
    Version of Record
    Insight
    1. Developmental Biology

    Morphogenesis: Fluid transport comes to the fore

    Yufei Wu, Sean X Sun
    Proteins that allow water to move in and out of cells help shape the development of new blood vessels.
    Version of Record
    Insight
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Axon Guidance: Watching axons on the move

    Maria I Lazaro-Pena, Carlos A Diaz-Balzac
    The ligand Netrin mediates axon guidance through a combination of haptotaxis over short distances and chemotaxis over longer distances.
    Version of Record
    Insight
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Drug Discovery: How to exploit the recycling system of a cell

    Sasha L Evans, Bethany A Haynes ... Rivka L Isaacson
    Nature has inspired the design of improved inhibitors for cancer-causing proteins.
    Version of Record
    Insight
    1. Cell Biology

    Beta Cells: Opportunity makes a hub or a leader

    Marjan Slak Rupnik
    Functional subpopulations of β-cells emerge to control pulsative insulin secretion in the pancreatic islets of mice through calcium oscillations.
    Version of Record
    Insight