News & Comment

Koch et al. propose replacing “synthetic microbial communities (SynComs)” with “defined microbial communities”. We argue that this substitution obscures the design-driven logic of SynCom research, and that the field needs clearer conceptual classification rather than a broader renaming of SynComs.

Engineering and applied science papers too often stop at what succeeds. We ask authors to push their assumptions, methods, models, or devices until they falter, and to report where and why they break. Disclosed limitations are a mark of rigour, not a liability at review: they show the field where the next advance will have to come from.

Neural manifolds refer to the low-dimensional shapes formed by populations of spiking neurons. This intrinsic population geometry can be physically emulated by electronic devices, facilitating near-training-free forecasting with exceptional energy efficiency.

India is emerging as an important developer and manufacturer of antibiotics, which includes several agents that are in clinical use or advanced stages of development. Here, the authors discuss the successes, and the implications for global access to antimicrobials.

Base editing promises transformative therapies for genetic disease, but delivery constraints have limited clinical translation. Mu and colleagues show that programmable coiled-coil assembly can create highly efficient split base editors and demonstrate its in vivo functionality.

Every year, World Hepatitis Day draws attention to a disease that causes over one million deaths a year despite being largely preventable due to the availability of an effective vaccine against hepatitis B, curative therapies for hepatitis C, treatment options for chronic hepatitis B as well as diagnostics for both viruses. Achieving the World Health Organization’s goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health problem by 2030 will require major improvements in vaccination coverage, diagnosis, access to care and long-term follow-up. To discuss the progress made so far, we spoke with Professor Ekta Gupta, Head of Clinical Virology and Nodal Officer for the WHO Collaborating Centre on Viral Hepatitis at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in New Delhi, India. Gupta has more than 29 years of experience in clinical virology and has played an important role in the development and implementation of viral hepatitis control programmes at the Delhi State and National level with the National Viral Hepatitis Control Program in India.

Biophysical and structural studies have found that leiomodin 2, a protein discovered in muscle cells, is the first example of a molecule that promotes the elongation of actin filaments at their slowly growing “pointed ends.” This breakthrough will stimulate work to answer many puzzling questions about the mechanism of this process.

Japan deserves more attention than it has so far received in Western narratives about the expansion of humans across Asia. It has over 10,000 Palaeolithic sites, many of which are well-dated. Japan provides excellent examples of Pleistocene sea-faring and long-distance Palaeolithic exchange networks. Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands may provide one of the earliest examples of humans deliberately trans-locating an animal to a new environment. Japan may also have been a starting point for the colonisation of the Americas.

Hybrid modelling using machine learning can help improve the robustness and comprehensiveness of economic impact assessments of climate change by combining data with theory, bridging silos across social, economic, and financial systems, and linking micro- and macroeconomic scales.

Online behavioural research faces a growing methodological and epistemic threat as participants increasingly rely on large language models: LLM Pollution. Amid accumulating empirical evidence of contamination, we introduce a conceptual framework that distinguishes three variants — Partial LLM Mediation, Full LLM Delegation, and LLM Spillover. Their interaction distorts samples, biases inferences, and fuels an escalating methodological arms race. We outline mitigation strategies spanning researcher practices, platform accountability, and community adaptation.

Genomic data could transform healthcare, but African populations are underrepresented, currently limiting benefits. Here the authors highlight how addressing political, financial, and social barriers and advancing equitable national genome projects is essential.

This comment introduces four governance actions that consider how sustainability, evaluation, safety, and cooperation can be integrated into the transformation of open-source AI, thereby reducing uncertainties and challenges posed by open-source AI for sustainable global prosperity.

Consortia of microbial isolates, also known as synthetic communities (SynComs), are increasingly used to study and harness microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions. Since “synthetic” potentially evokes negative connotations, we propose adopting the term “Defined Microbial Community” for practical applications.

Avoiding danger even when competing goals are imminent supports survival, yet the mechanisms orchestrating this behavioral override remain unclear. Macdonald and colleagues¹ describe a thalamostriatal microcircuit that modulates terminal dopamine release, bypassing canonical midbrain dopamine circuitry to prioritize safety.

Sustaining and transitioning mpox vaccination requires establishing and resourcing a global mpox vaccine stockpile under the Inter-Agency Coordinating Group (ICG), supported by sustainable financing, transparent allocation criteria, diversified manufacturing (including local production in Africa), and robust logistics, surveillance, and operational systems. Moreover, it requires strengthened collaboration among global, regional, and community actors; continuous data generation and research to inform policy, including genomic and vaccine effectiveness studies; and accelerated R&D with fast-tracked local manufacturing to enhance supply resilience and long-term epidemic preparedness.

Transient absorption spectroscopy has become an increasingly accessible method for probing the fundamental mechanisms of photocatalytic reaction and has provided important mechanistic insights across a wide range of systems. However, recent studies on metal-organic framework and covalent-organic framework based photocatalysts employ transient absorption primarily as a supplementary characterization technique rather than as a tool for gaining mechanistic insight. This perspective identifies recurring limitations in current practices and outlines strategies for more deliberate application of transient absorption spectroscopy in photocatalysis. By emphasizing clarity in data presentation and interpretation, we aim to elevate transient absorption spectroscopy from a routine characterization tool to a powerful approach for elucidating mechanistic photophysics of framework materials that govern their photocatalytic performance.

The Ebola outbreak reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 5^th May is now believed to have resulted in 139 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The current outbreak is of particular concern due to the high fatality rate of the causal Bundibugyo strain, its spread into neighboring Uganda, and the absence of an approved vaccine or targeted treatments. Following the WHO’s declaration on 17^th May that the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern¹, we outline the urgent need for sustained research into diagnostic tools, life-saving vaccines, and antiviral therapies directed against this virus.

High-entropy alloys are often presumed stable and intrinsically beneficial for electrocatalysis. This Comment argues that in situ structural evolution can diminish configurational entropy, necessitating rigorous identification of active phases under operando conditions before attributing catalytic performance to high-entropy effects.

Humanity’s understanding of planet Earth has evolved from myth and metaphor to measurement and models, yet our questions have remained strikingly similar. This editorial traces that long journey—across culture and centuries—to show how Earth science emerged, matured, and now faces its greatest challenge. Knowing how the planet works is no longer enough—the task ahead is learning how to live with it.

Despite the Moon being Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor, many questions about its geology remain unanswered. Recently, China’s Chang’e-5 (2020) and Chang’e-6 (2024) missions returned new basaltic samples, allowing us to make major advances in understanding the Moon’s geologic evolution.