Volume 43

MultiPerturb-seq captures changes in chromatin and RNA states driven by CRISPR perturbations. Yan et al. identify perturbations that convert stem-like, atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT) cells (left) into a more differentiated, neuron-like state (right).

See Yan et al.

A system for high-precision mutation detection of mRNA in extracellular vesicles. Song et al. present SCOPE, a method that uses Cas13 to recognize and amplify target RNA for liquid biopsy applications.

See Song et al.

Illustration of human pluripotent stem cell–derived embryoid bodies (bottom left) differentiating in vitro into hematopoietic stem cells and, after transplantation in mice, into blood cell lineages: from left, T cells, B cells, megakaryocytes and platelets, monocytes, red blood cells and granulocytes. T and B cell images adapted from T Lymphocyte and Human B Lymphocyte, NIAID, CC BY 2.0.

See Ng et al.

An illustration of a dual-capped mRNA and a capped circular RNA to augment cap-dependent translation initiation using branched topology. Chen et al. have developed a precise chemo-enzymatic method to synthesize and modify protein-coding mRNA to optimize its functionality and pharmacokinetics.

See Chen et al.

Inspired by photographs by Bernd and Hilla Becher of industrial structures, Khan et al. replaced these with representations of phages and structures of retrons, noncoding RNA elements from a bacterial immune system. The authors present a molecular census of retrons, performing the same battery of tests across many distinct systems to identify similarities and differences.

See Khan et al.

Single-stranded RNA is enzymatically synthesized without use of a template strand. Wiegand et al. developed a ‘green’ platform for template-independent enzymatic synthesis of RNA oligonucleotides using reversible terminator nucleoside triphosphates, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional chemical methods.

See Wiegand et al.

An illustration of local injection of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells (white) for glioblastoma. Recent clinical trials and patient reports have found promising outcomes of locoregional administration of CAR T cells across different solid tumors.

See Uslu & June

Self-pigmenting textiles grown from cellulose-producing bacteria. Walker et al. engineered bacteria to synthesize a melanin-producing enzyme, allowing them to grow a black material that can substitute for leather in fashion items.

See Walker et al.

Illustration from a crystal structure of the coagulation factor thrombin inhibited by two drug–peptide nucleic acid (PNA) molecules (pink and purple) bound together by base pairing; a PNA antidote (green) can release the inhibitor through competitive binding. Dockerill et al. describe a PNA-based approach to creating drugs with on-demand reversibility.

See Dockerill et al.

To crowdsource the alignment of 1 million RNA sequences from the human microbiome, Sarrazin-Gendron et al. created a minigame integrated within a popular commercial video game. More than 4 million participants contributed to improving a multiple sequence alignment for microbial phylogeny estimations and association.

See Sarrazin-Gendron et al.