News & Comment

Urea, a crucial nitrogen fertilizer, plays a vital role in meeting global food demand. However, its current production method is energy-intensive and environmentally unfriendly. In this commentary article, the authors propose strategies to address and overcome these challenges.

Resveratrol (REV) is a natural polyphenol with anti-obesity effects. However, the mechanisms remain unclear due to its low bioavailability and the lack of defined membrane-bound or nuclear receptors. Pang and colleagues reported that REV intervention (REV-I) alters gut microbiota and bile acid profile, leading to the inhibition of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and attenuation of scavenger receptor class B type 1 (SR-B1)-mediated chylomicron secretion. This highlights a therapeutic potential of targeting gut microbiome and intestinal SR-B1 for obesity and diabetes treatment.

Medicinal chemistry is a fast-evolving interdisciplinary research area which aims to improve human life by developing drugs to combat diseases. Nature Communications interviewed three scientists, Daniele Castagnolo (Associate Professor at University College London), Paramita Sarkar (postdoctoral researcher at University of Würzburg) and Dani Schulz (Director, Discovery Process Chemistry at Merck), about their careers and the past and future in medicinal chemistry research. We asked the researchers what medicinal chemistry means to them, and their opinions on the current relevance of the Rule of Five and new chemical modalities beyond the Rule of Five. We also discuss the differences between academic and industry research in medicinal chemistry and how Open Science can support collaborations for drug development.

Protein lysine methylation plays important biological roles but its experimental characterization is limited by the lack of suitable mimetics of methylated and unmethylated lysine among the natural amino acids. Here, we summarize the consequent challenges and discuss alternative approaches for biochemical and cellular lysine methylation studies.

Terrestrial freshwater environments are both affected by and contribute to climate change, with highly complex feedback mechanisms. We must look to the records these environments preserve of past periods of climactic upheaval to be able to prepare for an uncertain future.

A new study sheds light on the impact of bimetallic interfaces in nanomaterials for heat generation using single-particle thermometry. Moving from nanoparticle ensembles to single particles is key to developing consistent knowledge of material performance and nanoscale processes, but also involves assumptions and definitions that require careful consideration.

In an alpha-synuclein (α-syn) model of Parkinson’s disease (PD), Schonhoff and colleagues have shown that central nervous system (CNS)-associated macrophages (CAMs), but not microglia, potentially orchestrate CD4⁺ T cell recruitment and mediate an α-syn-induced inflammatory makeup.

Topological electronics is an emerging field aiming at exploiting the topological properties of matter in devices with extended functionalities. Recent experiments demonstrate a topological current divider, a key circuit element for this emerging technology.

Here, we provide a brief overview of the approaches and strategies underlying bacteria-based cancer immunotherapy (BCiT). We also describe and summarize research in the field of synthetic biology, which aims to regulate bacterial growth and gene expression for immunotherapeutic use. Finally, we discuss the current clinical status and limitations of BCiT.

Whole genome sequencing has enabled new insights into the genetic architecture of complex traits, especially through access to low-frequency and rare variation. This Comment highlights the key contributions from this technology and discusses considerations for its use and future perspectives.

While over 99% of coastal arctic rivers drain small catchments, future projections of land-ocean fluxes are based on data from large rivers. We encourage inclusion of and increased focus on smaller catchments to support representative assessments of arctic ecosystem change.

In this Comment, the authors discuss the current status, the challenges, and potential technological impact of exciton transport in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers, lateral and vertical heterostructures as well as moiré excitons in twisted TMD heterostacks.

The Tara Pacific program and expedition focused on coral reefs across the Pacific Ocean and used a coordinated sampling effort to address questions at multiple scales using a common suite of samples. Here, we highlight some of the Tara Pacific achievements, discussing the benefits of long-duration sea expeditions for investigating a wide array of research questions within a selected ecosystem.

The samples returned from near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu provide a pristine record of the 4.6 billion years since the birth of the Solar System. The Hayabusa2 initial analysis team has integrated a range of analytical techniques to investigate Ryugu’s organic chemistry. Here, we highlight their latest findings, the potential questions which may be answered, and provide an overview of new prospects in the decade to come.

On September 26^th 2022, LICIACube monitored Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission impact on asteroid Dimorphos, which is the smaller component of a binary asteroid system. These close observations revealed the impact ejecta features of the first planetary defence test with a kinetic impactor.

Identifying topological defects in disordered materials has a profound effect on predicting when and where the material will break. Matteo Baggioli comments a recent publication in Nature Communications, which confirms the existence of defects in glasses and their crucial role for plasticity.

Early detection of immunotherapy-induced tumor response is of major benefit for patients but can be complicated by therapy-induced pseudoprogression. A consensus guideline-iRECIST- was developed as a modification of Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST version 1.1). Here we describe which next steps are required to test its validity and how novel approaches for response criteria might be developed and included.

Issues with data reuse have been recognized in synthetic biology and the broader scientific community. Policies and standards fall short as machine reasoning is not emphasised and enforcement is lacking. We discuss the progress, remaining challenges, and possible solutions.

Progress to reduce plastic pollution has been painfully slow and the consequent damage to the natural environment and to human health is likely to increase further. This has been because the views and ways of working of four distinct stakeholder communities are not sufficiently well integrated. (1) Scientists, (2) industry, (3) society at large and (4) those making policy and legislation must in future find ways to work together.

This Comment discusses the complexity of how ocean acidification and phosphate limitation affect phytoplankton physiologies, as well as what future research is needed to address remaining crucial questions.