Featured
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Spotlight |
I fell out of love with the lab, and in love with business
The COVID-19 pandemic changed Karolina Makovskytė’s career ambitions, propelling her to a business development role in her home nation of Lithuania.
- Jacqui Thornton
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Spotlight |
How bioinformatics led one scientist home to Lithuania
Juozas Gordevičius founded a data-science company in the United States before returning to Vilnius.
- Jacqui Thornton
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Spotlight |
A snapshot of Lithuania’s life-sciences landscape
Nature examines the Baltic country’s research ambitions as it marks 20 years of European Union membership.
- Jacqui Thornton
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News |
‘ChatGPT for CRISPR’ creates new gene-editing tools
Some of the AI-designed gene editors could be more versatile than those found in nature.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
MEGA-CRISPR tool gives a power boost to cancer-fighting cells
A system that edits RNA rather than DNA can give new life to exhausted CAR T cells.
- Sara Reardon
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News |
Move over, CRISPR: RNA-editing therapies pick up steam
Two RNA-editing therapies for genetic diseases have in the past few months gained approval for clinical trials, raising hopes for safer treatments.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
Turbocharged CAR-T cells melt tumours in mice — using a trick from cancer cells
Immune cells armed with a mutation first identified in cancer cells gain potency but don’t turn cancerous themselves.
- Asher Mullard
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News |
CRISPR-edited crops break new ground in Africa
Scientists in the global south use the popular technique to protect local crops against local threats.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article
| Open Access
Affinity-optimizing enhancer variants disrupt development
Low-affinity transcription factor binding sites are prevalent across the genome, and single nucleotide changes that increase binding affinity even slightly can cause gain-of-function gene expression and phenotypes (such as polydactyly).
- Fabian Lim
- , Joe J. Solvason
- & Emma K. Farley
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News |
How CRISPR gene editing could help treat Alzheimer’s
Some researchers hoping that gene-editing technology can conquer forms of Alzheimer’s caused by genetic mutations.
- Tosin Thompson
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News |
CRISPR 2.0: a new wave of gene editors heads for clinical trials
Landmark approval of the first CRISPR therapy paves the way for treatments based on more efficient and more precise genome editors.
- Heidi Ledford
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News Explainer |
Is CRISPR safe? Genome editing gets its first FDA scrutiny
Advisers to the US regulatory agency will examine the safety profile of a CRISPR-based treatment for sickle-cell disease.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Monkey survives for two years after gene-edited pig-kidney transplant
Survival time is one of the longest for any interspecies transplant — and moves pig organs closer to human use.
- Max Kozlov
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Research Briefing |
Using CRISPR to study gene function aids understanding of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome
Most high-throughput assays to investigate the role of genes in disease involve in vitro cell models. Now a technology that targets CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing to specific cells in mice, and analyses transcriptional effects in single nuclei, has led to fresh insights into the genes involved in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.
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News |
Super-precise CRISPR tool enters US clinical trials for the first time
Base editing, which makes specific changes to a cell’s genome, is put to the test in CAR-T-cell treatments for leukaemia.
- Heidi Ledford
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Outlook |
How genetically modified mosquitoes could eradicate malaria
Gene-drive technology that can spread antimalarial modifications throughout mosquito populations is maturing, but there are questions to answer before it can be used in the wild.
- Sam Jones
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News |
Deadly mushroom poison might now have an antidote — with help from CRISPR
Gene-editing technique might have finally cracked the mystery of how death cap mushrooms kill.
- Saima Sidik
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Editorial |
The gene-therapy revolution risks stalling if we don’t talk about drug pricing
Regulation and new intellectual property laws are needed to reduce the cost of gene-editing treatments and fulfil their promise to improve human health.
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News |
Why CRISPR babies are still too risky — embryo studies highlight challenges
While society grapples with the social and ethical implications of heritable genome editing, technical obstacles still abound.
- Heidi Ledford
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Nature Podcast |
How ‘metadevices’ could make electronics faster
Getting electronics into super-fast terahertz speeds, and how cognitive changes could alter social media’s effects on young people.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Shamini Bundell
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News |
Disgraced CRISPR-baby scientist’s ‘publicity stunt’ frustrates researchers
He Jiankui refused to answer researchers’ questions about his controversial 2018 experiments at weekend event.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News Explainer |
What it would take to bring back the dodo
An audacious plan to ‘de-extinct’ dodos depends on huge leaps in biotechnology and resurrecting a lost habitat.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
CRISPR cancer trial success paves the way for personalized treatments
‘Most complicated therapy ever’ tailors bespoke, genome-edited immune cells to attack tumours.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article
| Open Access
Non-viral, specifically targeted CAR-T cells achieve high safety and efficacy in B-NHL
Non-viral CAR-T cells with gene-specific targeted integration are safe and effective in patients with lymphoma.
- Jiqin Zhang
- , Yongxian Hu
- & He Huang
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Nature Index |
Improving crop resilience with nanoparticles
Materials that can carry CRISPR gene-editing into plant cells could be key in the fight against global hunger.
- Neil Savage
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News |
CRISPR ‘cousin’ put to the test in landmark heart-disease trial
Gene-therapy test launches pivotal year for precise genome-editing technique known as base editing.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Gene-edited tomatoes could provide new source of vitamin D
Plants rich in a precursor to the vitamin could help to address deficiencies — but face a long road to market.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
China focuses on ethics to deter another ‘CRISPR babies’ scandal
But some question whether a statement from the government will deter scientists from carrying out research that violates ethical norms.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
Major CRISPR patent decision won’t end tangled dispute
Fights over who invented the gene-editing technology are becoming more complex, and could carry on for years.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
How to protect the first ‘CRISPR babies’ prompts ethical debate
Fears of excessive interference cloud proposal for protecting children whose genomes were edited, as He Jiankui’s release from jail looks imminent.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News |
China’s approval of gene-edited crops energizes researchers
Scientists say newly published guidelines will spur research into crops that have increased yields and greater resilience to climate change.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Book Review |
Synthetic biology — a call to meddle better
An expansive survey of the hopes and fears, hypes and fails of genetic manipulation.
- Gaia Vince
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Research Highlight |
A CRISPR fix for muscles hatches from a viral shell
Scientists create millions of mutant viruses to find those that excel at ferrying genome-editing tools into muscle tissue.
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News Round-Up |
COVID research prizes, CRISPR-like enzymes and a face-mask trial
The latest science news, in brief.
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News |
Trove of CRISPR-like gene-cutting enzymes found in microbes
The search for a CRISPR enzyme’s ancestors has revealed more than one million potential genome-editing tools.
- Heidi Ledford
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Editorial |
License CRISPR patents for free to share gene editing globally
Universities hold the majority of CRISPR patents. They are in a strong position to ensure that the technology is widely shared for education and research.
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Correspondence |
Waive CRISPR patents to meet food needs in low-income countries
- John van der Oost
- & Louise O. Fresco
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News |
Landmark CRISPR trial shows promise against deadly disease
Administering gene-editing treatment directly into the body could be a safe and effective way to treat a rare, life-threatening condition.
- Heidi Ledford
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Research Summary |
Base editor treats progeria in mice
A single dose of an adenine base editor shows promise in treating the ageing-related disease Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome. It corrected the LMNA mutation underlying the disease in patient-derived cells and improved cardiovascular health and lifespan in mice.
- Luke W. Koblan
- , Michael R. Erdos
- & David R. Liu
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News |
Limit on lab-grown human embryos dropped by stem-cell body
The International Society for Stem Cell Research relaxed the famous 14-day rule on culturing human embryos in its latest research guidelines.
- Nidhi Subbaraman
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Editorial |
Revamp of UK CRISPR regulation will require public trust
The United Kingdom is considering innovative ways of regulating gene editing in food and farming. Robust processes and public confidence will be vital for success.
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News |
CRISPR-based gene therapy dampens pain in mice
Targeted approach could lead to an opioid-free way of treating chronic pain.
- Ariana Remmel
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Article |
In vivo base editing rescues Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome in mice
In a mouse model of progeria, an adenine base editor delivered with adeno-associated virus corrects the pathogenic mutation in LMNA, rescues vascular pathology and markedly extends the lifespan of the mice.
- Luke W. Koblan
- , Michael R. Erdos
- & David R. Liu
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News |
CRISPR gene therapy shows promise against blood diseases
Researchers report early successes using genetic approaches to treat sickle-cell anaemia and β-thalassaemia.
- Heidi Ledford
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News Round-Up |
Modified mosquitoes, CRISPR baby risks and a COVID-19 drug
The latest science news, in brief.
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News |
‘CRISPR babies’ are still too risky, says influential panel
The safety and efficacy of genome editing in human embryos hasn’t been proven, researchers warn.
- Heidi Ledford
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Research Highlight |
A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
The creation of spotless cephalopods hints that squid could make a good model organism for applying CRISPR to brain research.
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Research Highlight |
Huge virus’s mini-enzymes boost CRISPR’s powers
The viruses called Biggiephages harbour compact enzymes that can target a broad range of DNA sequences.
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Editorial |
Mitochondrial genome editing: another win for curiosity-driven research
A promising biomedical tool began life as part of efforts to answer a different question.
How I’m supporting other researchers who have moved to Lithuania