Author: Nature

Switching off the <i>FNIP1</i> gene protects against metabolic disease

Nature, Published online: 05 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02391-xA study of more than one million people shows that rare genetic variants that disrupt the FNIP1 gene are associated with a favourable metabolic profile and a rough…

Nature, Published online: 05 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02391-x

A study of more than one million people shows that rare genetic variants that disrupt the FNIP1 gene are associated with a favourable metabolic profile and a roughly 60% lower risk of cardiometabolic disease than the general population. Silencing genes in the FNIP1 pathway in mice induces fat breakdown and reproduces the metabolic benefits associated with the variants in humans.

Maps of chromosomal regions crucial for cell division reveal high diversity

Nature, Published online: 05 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02327-5Centromeres are regions of chromosomes that are required for cell division. Complete sequence characterization of centromeres from a diverse group of 65 individual…

Nature, Published online: 05 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02327-5

Centromeres are regions of chromosomes that are required for cell division. Complete sequence characterization of centromeres from a diverse group of 65 individuals reveals dynamic and rapid patterns of mutational change, providing information about centromere evolution and function.

What’s missing from the White House plan for the future of US science

Nature, Published online: 04 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02384-wTo realize ‘a new golden age for science’, the United States needs open borders and must properly fund studies in the social sciences, public health and the humani…

Nature, Published online: 04 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02384-w

To realize ‘a new golden age for science’, the United States needs open borders and must properly fund studies in the social sciences, public health and the humanities — not just research in technology and engineering.

Engineered yeast that make cancer drugs could spare a rare flower

Nature, Published online: 04 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02428-1Modified baker’s yeast can produce a precursor for a drug that is usually derived from an endangered plant and its relatives.

Nature, Published online: 04 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02428-1

Modified baker’s yeast can produce a precursor for a drug that is usually derived from an endangered plant and its relatives.

‘Television’? The word will never catch on!

Nature, Published online: 04 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02379-7One reader proposes an alternative to the word ‘television’, and another is enthralled by a meteor, in our weekly dip into Nature’s archive.

Nature, Published online: 04 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02379-7

One reader proposes an alternative to the word ‘television’, and another is enthralled by a meteor, in our weekly dip into Nature’s archive.

Brains of male and female mice recover differently from ketamine

Nature, Published online: 31 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02356-0Specialized immune cells found in the brain, known as microglia, reach out to neurons in female mice that were given a dose of ketamine anaesthetic.

Nature, Published online: 31 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02356-0

Specialized immune cells found in the brain, known as microglia, reach out to neurons in female mice that were given a dose of ketamine anaesthetic.

Relapsed childhood cancers show genomic scars left by previous therapy

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02329-3Whole-genome sequencing of hundreds of childhood tumours, enriched for pretreated, relapsed and metastatic samples, shows that cancer therapies, especially platinum-…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02329-3

Whole-genome sequencing of hundreds of childhood tumours, enriched for pretreated, relapsed and metastatic samples, shows that cancer therapies, especially platinum-based ones, are associated with rapid acquisition of distinctive patterns of DNA damage. These mutational signatures are linked with worse outcomes and could be used to track relapses and guide treatment decisions.

The first known cephalopod was only a millimetre long and lived about 520 million years ago

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02319-5The locomotion of modern cephalopods, such as squid and cuttlefish, relies on buoyancy control achieved mainly by a specialized structure called a siphuncle. The dis…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02319-5

The locomotion of modern cephalopods, such as squid and cuttlefish, relies on buoyancy control achieved mainly by a specialized structure called a siphuncle. The discovery of fossils of Eoceras — a millimetre-sized cephalopod with a siphuncle — suggests that the group had already emerged in the early Cambrian, around 520 million years ago.