Daily briefing: Personalized mRNA vaccine shows promise for cancer

Nature, Published online: 21 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02638-7Good news from a trial of a vaccine against melanoma. Plus, the US NSF is set to issue its lowest number of new grants in 40 years, and the living layer that prote…

Nature, Published online: 21 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02638-7

Good news from a trial of a vaccine against melanoma. Plus, the US NSF is set to issue its lowest number of new grants in 40 years, and the living layer that protects and produces desert soils.

Why we must stop talking about artificial general intelligence — and instead build ‘pro-worker’ AI

Nature, Published online: 21 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02566-6Rather than racing to replace people, we should build AI tools that amplify human expertise and expand opportunity.

Nature, Published online: 21 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02566-6

Rather than racing to replace people, we should build AI tools that amplify human expertise and expand opportunity.

Exclusive: NSF set to issue lowest number of new grants in four decades

Nature, Published online: 20 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02574-6The US science-funding agency is withholding $1 billion of its budget so that the money can go to a special White House project.

Nature, Published online: 20 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02574-6

The US science-funding agency is withholding $1 billion of its budget so that the money can go to a special White House project.

Staggering 90% of biomedical papers now show signs of AI help

Nature, Published online: 20 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02551-zThe figure, which is much higher than previous estimates of Large Language Model use, is for papers published in December and archived in PubMed

Nature, Published online: 20 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02551-z

The figure, which is much higher than previous estimates of Large Language Model use, is for papers published in December and archived in PubMed

Researcher, heal thyself: meet the scientists studying their own diseases

Nature, Published online: 20 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02455-yStudying a condition after being diagnosed with it can be rewarding but also presents some ethical and psychological challenges.

Nature, Published online: 20 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02455-y

Studying a condition after being diagnosed with it can be rewarding but also presents some ethical and psychological challenges.