Magazine

Latest articles

1. 

   Episode 101: December 2025

   In this episode, we hear about the development of the visual system, nocebo effects versus placebos, cross-species insemination, telomere length, and efforts to recreate Darwin’s “warm little pond”.
2. 1. Neuroscience

   Neuronal Activity: Keeping track of moving targets

   Renata Batista-Brito, Geoffrey Terral

   A new method for tracking the activity of individual neurons day after day in the growing brain has revealed a key developmental transition in neuronal activity.

3. Research Culture: The SAFE Labs Handbook as a tool for improving lab culture

   Erika Donà, James M Gahan ... Philip Coen

   A survey of more than 200 researchers shows strong support for a new community-driven lab handbook that can be implemented by individual group leaders to reduce conflict and create more positive and equitable work environments.
4. 1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
   2. Cell Biology

   Metabolism: How one nutrient controls cell size

   Angela Montero, Lydia WS Finley

   The metabolic fate of a nutrient called pyruvate determines how big cells become.
5. 1. Genetics and Genomics

   Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance: Twists and turns in the story of learned avoidance

   Lesley T MacNeil

   Evidence that learned avoidance of a pathogenic bacterium can be transmitted to future generations in C. elegans is growing.
6. 1. Immunology and Inflammation
   2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease
   3. Medicine

   

   Focus Issue: Trained Immunity

   Edited by Satyajit Rath et al.

   Our latest Focus Issue looks at what we’ve learnt over the past decade and what’s next for the field of trained immunity.
7. 1. Immunology and Inflammation
   2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

   Focus Issue: Evolving our understanding of trained immunity

   Eva Kaufmann, Yahya Sohrabi ... Jos WM van der Meer

   The articles in this focus issue discuss progress towards a more complete understanding of memory in the innate immune system, and efforts to exploit "trained immunity" for the development of new vaccines and therapeutics.
8. 1. Immunology and Inflammation
   2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

   Bacteriology: How Shigella tackles host defences

   Yizhou Huang, Teresa LM Thurston

   The pathogenic bacteria Shigella avoids detection inside hosts cells by degrading RNF213, the protein responsible for sensing the presence of intracellular pathogens.
9. 1. Cell Biology
   2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

   Chromosomes: Exploring a crossroads in the aging process

   Kiyan Shabestary, Daniel E Gottschling

   Experiments on yeast show that the nuclear pore complex has a central role in the loss of chromosomes associated with aging.
10. 1. Neuroscience

    Neuronal Migration: How hunger guides new brain cells to their destination

    Fang-Shin Nian, Laurent Nguyen

    Blood flow and a hormone called ghrelin help new neurons travel to where they are meant to be in the brain of adult mice.