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News |
‘Politicians don’t understand science’: advisers give evidence at UK COVID inquiry
Patrick Vallance, Chris Witty and others reflect on advising the UK government during the ongoing investigation into the country’s pandemic response.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Article
| Open AccessHIV-1 Env trimers asymmetrically engage CD4 receptors in membranes
HIV-1 Env trimers bound to one, two and three CD4 molecules are observed at membrane–membrane interfaces between HIV-1 and CD4-decorated virus-like particles.
- Wenwei Li
- , Zhuan Qin
- & Walther Mothes
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Article
| Open AccessIntermediate conformations of CD4-bound HIV-1 Env heterotrimers
Single-particle cryo-electron microscopy structures of HIV-1 envelope (Env) trimers bound to one or two CD4 receptors identify intermediate Env conformations that precede host–virus fusion and inform the design of therapeutics to prevent HIV-1 infection.
- Kim-Marie A. Dam
- , Chengcheng Fan
- & Pamela J. Bjorkman
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Research Briefing |
The highly mutated SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.2.86 is still neutralized by antibodies in the blood
The spike protein of BA.2.86 — a subvariant of Omicron — has a large number of mutations, and binds to its receptor in host cells with high affinity. Despite these characteristics, BA.2.86 is no more resistant to antibodies from vaccinated individuals than are the dominant variants that are currently in circulation.
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Editorial |
How our memories of COVID-19 are biased — and why it matters
Our view of the effectiveness of past pandemic responses is influenced by our present vaccination status. Public inquiries and future research must take this factor into account.
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Nature Index |
Four science stars on the fast-track to impact
With the world at their feet, these prolific young researchers are making their mark.
- Sandy Ong
- & Chris Woolston
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News Explainer |
Dengue is spreading. Can new vaccines and antivirals halt its rise?
Scientists warn that it will take multiple methods to stop the disease, which is also known as breakbone fever and was once confined to the tropics.
- Mariana Lenharo
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Research Briefing |
Personal motivations polarize people’s memories of the COVID-19 pandemic
How accurately a person recalls the COVID-19 pandemic is affected by motivational factors, including how they feel about their vaccination status. The recollections of vaccinated and unvaccinated people are skewed in opposite directions, leading to different retrospective narratives about the pandemic. This distorted recall influences how individuals evaluate past political action, and will complicate preparation for future crises.
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Research Briefing |
Genome rewriting generates mouse models of human diseases
Many human diseases lack accurate mouse models because it is technically difficult to create extensively genetically humanized mice. A technique that allows large stretches of DNA to be rapidly rewritten in mouse embryonic stem cells can be used to produce improved animal models.
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Article |
TMPRSS2 is a functional receptor for human coronavirus HKU1
We demonstrate that the transmembrane protease TMPRSS2 is a receptor for coronavirus HKU1; it triggers HKU1-mediated cell–cell fusion and viral entry by binding to both HKU1A and HKU1B spikes.
- Nell Saunders
- , Ignacio Fernandez
- & Olivier Schwartz
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News & Views |
Anti-COVID drug accelerates viral evolution
Molnupiravir, an antiviral drug used to treat COVID-19, induces numerous mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome that can increase the rate at which the virus evolves — yielding viral variants that might survive and be passed on.
- Sergei L. Kosakovsky Pond
- & Darren Martin
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Article |
Antigenicity and receptor affinity of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 spike
A severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Omicron subvariant, BA.2.86, was found to be no more resistant to human sera than the currently dominant XBB.1.5 and EG.5.1, but it had a remarkably higher receptor affinity.
- Qian Wang
- , Yicheng Guo
- & David D. Ho
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News |
Inflammation in severe COVID linked to bad fungal microbiome
An overabundant ‘mycobiota’ in the gut might be involved in triggering harmful immune responses.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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News |
Scientists deliberately gave women Zika — here’s why
‘Human challenge’ results suggest that such trials could be used to test vaccines when Zika incidence is low.
- Mariana Lenharo
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Comment |
Long COVID research risks losing momentum – we need a moonshot
Investing US$1 billion every year for the next ten years into long COVID research could improve the lives of millions and save trillions in economic costs.
- Lisa McCorkell
- & Michael J. Peluso
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News & Views |
The language of bacterial defences expands
Cells use specialized nucleotide signals to activate defences. A bacterial study reveals a previously unknown class of signals, formed by linking molecules of ATP and S-adenosyl methionine.
- Douglas R. Wassarman
- & Philip J. Kranzusch
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Nature Podcast |
An anti-CRISPR system that helps save viruses from destruction
Tactic could be co-opted to make gene-editing more precise, and how much melting of Greenland’s ice sheet can be prevented.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Shamini Bundell
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News |
How the current bird flu strain evolved to be so deadly
Genetic changes to avian influenza viruses have led to spread among many wild species, creating an uncontrollable global outbreak.
- Miryam Naddaf
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Article |
The episodic resurgence of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 virus
Recent resurgences of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 viruses have different origins and virus ecologies as their epicentres shift and viruses evolve, with changes indicating increased adaptation among domestic birds.
- Ruopeng Xie
- , Kimberly M. Edwards
- & Vijaykrishna Dhanasekaran
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News |
New pill helps COVID smell and taste loss fade quickly
The antiviral drug ensitrelvir, which shortens sensory problems, is one of the few COVID-19 drugs available to people not at high risk of grave illness.
- Mariana Lenharo
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Nature Podcast |
Gene edits move pig organs closer to human transplantation
Monkeys with CRISPR-edited pig kidneys survive for more than a year, and why our brains struggle to count more than four objects.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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World View |
Nipah virus is deadly — but smart policy changes can help quell pandemic risk
Repeated outbreaks increase the risk of a Nipah strain emerging that is better at spreading.
- Thekkumkara Surendran Anish
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Article
| Open AccessSialoglycan binding triggers spike opening in a human coronavirus
Binding of a sialoglycan-based primary receptor by the spike protein of the common cold human coronavirus HKU1 triggers conformational changes to a state that would allow binding to a second receptor required for cell entry.
- Matti F. Pronker
- , Robert Creutznacher
- & Daniel L. Hurdiss
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Research Highlight |
How the littlest children stop SARS-CoV-2 in its tracks
Compared with adults, babies have a weaker antibody response but better protection in their noses.
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Research Highlight |
Genetic variant powers up immune cells that remember SARS-CoV-2
People with a specific variant had more active thymus glands, which produce immune cells that fight off infection.
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Outlook |
RSV treatments are here: now the work begins
Efforts to prevent infections and keep vulnerable people out of hospital are beginning to pay off, but deploying these strategies presents new challenges.
- Benjamin Plackett
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Outlook |
Respiratory syncytial virus co-infections might conspire to worsen disease
Emerging evidence suggests that pathogens can pair up to work together against immune system defences.
- Katherine Bourzac
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Outlook |
The search for a connection between RSV and asthma
The consequences of respiratory syncytial virus infection sometimes linger for years — and scientists are trying to work out whether there’s a causal link.
- Sandy Ong
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Outlook |
Research round-up: respiratory syncytial virus
Why monitoring sewers could help to detect outbreaks, how RSV and flu viruses can couple together and other highlights.
- Liam Drew
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Outlook |
Better awareness of RSV in older adults is needed to fight a growing burden
Respiratory syncytial virus is usually associated with babies, but the virus can also cause serious disease in older adults and people with chronic medical conditions.
- Rachel Nuwer
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Outlook |
Tracking RSV in low- and middle-income countries
By surveilling respiratory syncytial virus, the World Health Organization is hoping to understand who the virus infects and the burden it has.
- Pratik Pawar
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Outlook |
Vaccines could offer fresh hope against respiratory syncytial virus
If deployed effectively and equitably, this latest generation of vaccines could help to prevent countless deaths and hospitalizations among the young and old.
- Michael Eisenstein
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News |
COVID lockdowns altered babies’ microbiomes
Isolation can have lasting effects on the composition of microbes in the gut, but links to other health conditions are still poorly understood.
- Lilly Tozer
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News |
COVID vaccines linked to unexpected vaginal bleeding
A large cohort study measured how frequently women reported bleeding after receiving COVID-19 jabs.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Article
| Open AccessA molnupiravir-associated mutational signature in global SARS-CoV-2 genomes
A specific class of long phylogenetic branches, distinguished by a high proportion of G-to-A and C-to-T mutations, are almost exclusively found in sequences from 2022, after molnupiravir treatment was introduced, indicating that molnupiravir treatment can give rise to viable mutagenized viruses.
- Theo Sanderson
- , Ryan Hisner
- & Christopher Ruis
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Article
| Open AccessDistinguishing features of long COVID identified through immune profiling
Individuals with long COVID show marked biological changes in cortisol and immune factors relative to convalescent populations.
- Jon Klein
- , Jamie Wood
- & Akiko Iwasaki
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Book Review |
Vaccine specialist Peter Hotez: scientists are ‘under attack for someone else’s political gain’
The physician-researcher who spoke out against misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic says attacks against science are formidable — and getting worse.
- Julian Nowogrodzki
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Research Highlight |
Furry little creatures teem with a multitude of viruses
Large-scale survey reveals the diversity of viruses in small mammals, which can be sources of viruses that hop to humans.
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News |
Nipah virus outbreak: what scientists know so far
India is taking urgent steps to halt the transmission of a rare but deadly virus that spreads from bats to humans.
- Gemma Conroy
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Editorial |
Why the pandemic treaty risks becoming COVID-19 groundhog day
Talks are stalling, but everyone benefits when the fruits of vaccine and drugs research are shared equitably.
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News |
NIH upholds controversial plan to step up oversight of foreign collaborators
The US biomedical agency tweaked its new policy after an outcry from researchers, but will forge ahead.
- Max Kozlov
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News |
First global survey reveals who is doing ‘gain of function’ research on pathogens and why
An analysis of the controversial work indicates that a one-size-fits-all regulation strategy will have consequences.
- Max Kozlov
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News |
COVID boosters are back: what scientists say about whether to get one
As many countries head into autumn, they are targeting vaccinations at people in high-risk categories, leaving those at lower risk uncertain about what to do.
- Mariana Lenharo
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Article |
Molecular mechanism of de novo replication by the Ebola virus polymerase
A study reports the three-dimensional structure of the Ebola virus polymerase in complex with VP35 and RNA, and reveals features required for initiation of viral replication.
- Qi Peng
- , Bin Yuan
- & Yi Shi
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Article |
Molecular mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 resistance to nirmatrelvir
A biochemical and structural analysis demonstrates that alterations at the substrate-binding pocket of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 can allow the virus to develop resistance to nirmatrelvir in two distinct ways.
- Yinkai Duan
- , Hao Zhou
- & Haitao Yang
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessA second update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19
- Masahiro Kanai
- , Shea J. Andrews
- & Matthew Solomonson
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News |
COVID infection risk rises the longer you are exposed — even for vaccinated people
Rigorous evidence shows that significant contact with a person with SARS-CoV-2 is more likely to lead to transmission than a short encounter.
- Anil Oza
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Article
| Open AccessNeutralization, effector function and immune imprinting of Omicron variants
Convergent mutations in hot spots of the spike proteins of currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants increase the binding affinity for the host receptor and promote more efficient fusion with host cell membranes.
- Amin Addetia
- , Luca Piccoli
- & David Veesler
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News Explainer |
Why a highly mutated coronavirus variant has scientists on alert
Research is under way to determine whether the mutation-laden lineage BA.2.86 has the potential for global spread — or whether it is nothing to worry about.
- Ewen Callaway
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