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Open Access
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Research Highlight |
How do humans resist tuberculosis? With a metabolic protein’s help
A protein that boosts energy metabolism in immune cells might help to prevent tuberculosis infections taking hold.
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News |
COVID vaccines slash risk of spreading Omicron — and so does previous infection
But the benefit of vaccines in reducing Omicron transmission doesn’t last for long.
- Ruby Prosser Scully
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World View |
Fragmented outbreak data will lead to a repeat of COVID-19
To break the vicious cycle of patchy understanding and poor virus control, we need to talk about privacy.
- Adam Kucharski
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News Explainer |
Spate of polio outbreaks worldwide puts scientists on alert
Cases of paralysis in the United States and Israel suggest vaccine-derived poliovirus has infected many people.
- Heidi Ledford
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News Explainer |
Which COVID boosters to take and when: a guide for the perplexed
A diverse menu of vaccine options leaves people searching for the best route to protection.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Twisted graphene, climate bill — the week in infographics
Nature highlights three key graphics from the week in science and research.
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News |
New ‘Langya’ virus identified in China: what scientists know so far
The henipavirus can cause respiratory symptoms and is related to Nipah and Hendra viruses, but cannot spread easily in people.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
COVID rebound is surprisingly common — even without Paxlovid
Viral levels resurge in more than 10% of untreated people with COVID-19, but early data hint that the rebound is even more pronounced after antiviral treatment.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
Will ‘Centaurus’ be the next global coronavirus variant? Indian cases offers clues
The BA.2.75 variant is rising fast in the country, but hospitalization rates are low so far.
- Ewen Callaway
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Article |
A monocyte–leptin–angiogenesis pathway critical for repair post-infection
Monocytes recruited to skin infection are not involved in bacterial clearance but instead regulate local angiogenesis and healing.
- Rachel M. Kratofil
- , Hanjoo B. Shim
- & Paul Kubes
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Editorial |
Preventive HIV drug shows urgent need for transparency on pricing
The drug cabotegravir could be a game-changer in the fight against HIV/AIDS — but we need to know why it costs so much.
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Research Highlight |
Ancient graves show plague afflicted Bronze Age Crete
Genomic analysis suggests that plague could have played a part in social change on the Greek island around 2000 BC.
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News Feature |
Heart disease after COVID: what the data say
Some studies suggest that the risk of cardiovascular problems, such as a heart attack or stroke, remains high even many months after a SARS-CoV-2 infection clears up. Researchers are starting to pin down the frequency of these issues and what is causing the damage.
- Saima May Sidik
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News |
Dust-up over dust storm link to ‘Valley Fever’ disease
Researchers are divided over whether rising cases of the fungal infection in the United States can be linked to dust storms.
- Virginia Gewin
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Article |
Impaired ketogenesis ties metabolism to T cell dysfunction in COVID-19
The ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate can be used as an alternative carbon source by T cells to maintain their function during severe respiratory viral infections, including infection with SARS-CoV-2.
- Fotios Karagiannis
- , Konrad Peukert
- & Christoph Wilhelm
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News |
How long is COVID infectious? What scientists know so far
Those with SARS-CoV-2 are often advised to isolate for only a few days. But evidence is mounting that some people can continue to pass on the virus for much longer.
- David Adam
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News |
Prior Omicron infection protects against BA.4 and BA.5 variants
Catching an earlier version of SARS-CoV-2 — particularly Omicron — provides some immunity against the two fast-spreading lineages.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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News |
The hunt for drugs for mild COVID: scientists seek to treat those at lower risk
People who are unlikely to develop severe COVID-19 have no widely approved medications to ease the illness.
- Saima May Sidik
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News |
One coronavirus infection wards off another — but only if it’s a similar variant
Infection with a pre-Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant protects against reinfection with a second, although the effect fades almost completely after three years.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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News Round-Up |
COVID from a cat, pandemic death tolls and viruses that alter body odour
The latest science news, in brief.
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Article |
ZBTB46 defines and regulates ILC3s that protect the intestine
A subset of group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) expresses the transcription factor ZBTB46—which was previously thought to be restricted to conventional dendritic cells—and these ILC3s have a role in regulating intestinal health.
- Wenqing Zhou
- , Lei Zhou
- & Gregory F. Sonnenberg
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News |
Vomiting viruses, fruit and veg emissions — the week in infographics
Nature highlights three key graphics from the week in science and research.
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News |
After COVID, African countries vow to take the fight to malaria
Donors pledge more than US$4 billion in renewed bid to cut new malaria cases by 90%.
- T. V. Padma
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News |
How some viruses make people smell extra-tasty to mosquitoes
Two viruses that cause tropical diseases manipulate their hosts into emitting more of a mosquito-attracting molecule.
- Freda Kreier
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News |
Delta reinfection risk low among unvaccinated children
But scientists warn that the findings do not mean that children should not be vaccinated against COVID-19.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article |
Enteric viruses replicate in salivary glands and infect through saliva
Enteric viruses replicate in salivary glands, can be propagated in salivary gland-derived spheroids and cell lines, and are released into saliva, which is a new transmission route having implications for therapeutics, diagnostics and sanitation measures.
- S. Ghosh
- , M. Kumar
- & N. Altan-Bonnet
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News |
Fast-evolving COVID variants complicate vaccine updates
COVID-19 vaccines are due for an upgrade, scientists say, but emerging variants and fickle immune reactions mean it’s not clear what new jabs should look like.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
Mysterious child hepatitis continues to vex researchers
US cases of liver inflammation among children have remained flat, but UK cases seem to have risen, leading some to suggest a coronavirus contribution.
- Heidi Ledford
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Outlook |
The science behind COVID’s assault on smell
The loss of the sense of smell has been a hallmark symptom of COVID-19. The mechanisms behind SARS-CoV-2’s ability to interfere with this sense — as well as why variants such as Omicron do so less frequently — are becoming clearer.
- Elie Dolgin
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News |
How common is long COVID? Why studies give different answers
Enormous databases do not necessarily allow scientists to solve long COVID mysteries, such as how well vaccination protects against the condition.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
New COVID drugs face delays as trials grow more difficult
Fewer people are eligible for the massive studies needed to test treatments for severe COVID-19.
- Saima May Sidik
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Research Briefing |
The neuronal control of sickness symptoms
We identified a specific neuronal population in the mouse hypothalamus that senses immune signals during an infection and triggers multiple sickness symptoms, including fever and loss of appetite, through direct connections with dedicated homeostatic brain circuits.
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Article |
Pregnancy enables antibody protection against intracellular infection
Pregnancy-induced post-translational antibody modification enables protection against the prototypical intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes.
- John J. Erickson
- , Stephanie Archer-Hartmann
- & Sing Sing Way
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News |
A surprise in the eye: long-lived T cells patrol the cornea
Scientists previously thought that specialized immune cells did not reside in the transparent cornea.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
Why unprecedented bird flu outbreaks sweeping the world are concerning scientists
Mass infections in wild birds pose a significant risk to vulnerable species, are hard to contain and increase the opportunity for the virus to spill over into people.
- Brittney J. Miller
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Technology Feature |
Methods combine to decode the biology of tuberculosis
Scientists are fusing sequencing, chemistry and imaging techniques to probe interactions between pathogens and their host cells.
- Amber Dance
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News Feature |
Why the WHO took two years to say COVID is airborne
Early in the pandemic, the World Health Organization stated that SARS-CoV-2 was not transmitted through the air. That mistake and the prolonged process of correcting it sowed confusion and raises questions about what will happen in the next pandemic.
- Dyani Lewis
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News |
Diabetes risk rises after COVID, massive study finds
Even mild SARS-CoV-2 infections can amplify a person’s chance of developing diabetes, especially for those already susceptible to the disease.
- Clare Watson
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News |
Can drugs reduce the risk of long COVID? What scientists know so far
Researchers are trying to establish whether existing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments can prevent lasting symptoms.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Vaccines protect against infection from Omicron subvariant — but not for long
Two doses of COVID vaccine cut the risk of infection and mild illness from the rising BA.2 subvariant, although protection wanes quickly.
- Saima May Sidik
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Article |
Bacterial inhibition of Fas-mediated killing promotes neuroinvasion and persistence
Studies in a mouse model of neurolisteriosis show that the effector protein InlB produced by Listeria monocytogenes protects infected monocytes in the host from T cell-mediated cell death, and thereby increases bacterial neuroinvasion, persistence and transmission.
- Claire Maudet
- , Marouane Kheloufi
- & Marc Lecuit
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News |
Surge of HIV, tuberculosis and COVID feared amid war in Ukraine
Infectious diseases are likely to spread as Russia’s invasion displaces people and disrupts health services.
- Leslie Roberts
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News |
Wide-ranging genetic study of severe COVID finds common risk factors
Genetic variants that are linked to immune signalling, mucus production and other functions increase the risk of critical COVID-19.
- Freda Kreier
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News Explainer |
The next variant: three key questions about what’s after Omicron
The emergence of a new variant is just a matter of time, scientists say.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Had Omicron? You're unlikely to catch its rising variant
Infection with the first widely circulating version of Omicron protects against the emerging BA.2 subvariant — as does vaccination.
- Saima May Sidik
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Nature Podcast |
Tongan volcano eruption leaves scientists with unanswered questions
Scientists scramble to understand the devastating Tongan volcano eruption, and modelling how societal changes might alter carbon emissions.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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News |
Just 14 cases: Guinea worm disease nears eradication
A scourge that once infected millions of the world’s poorest people is close to being wiped out in humans — but infections in animals complicates the picture.
- Freda Kreier
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News |
Heart-disease risk soars after COVID — even with a mild case
Massive study shows a long-term, substantial rise in risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke, after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
- Saima May Sidik
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Editorial |
Long COVID and kids: more research is urgently needed
Like adults, children can experience long COVID, but few studies of the condition include young people. That has to change.