17 September 2026

Nature profiles a group of hard-to-find microbes that biologists are competing to study because they may hold clues to how complex cellular life first evolved.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02849-y

A new imaging approach has captured virus-like particles assembling step by step, a process normally inferred rather than directly observed.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02644-9

Human brain tissue transplanted into mice that lack a cortex took root and integrated, a step toward studying human brain tissue directly in a living animal.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02927-1

A separate transplant experiment integrated human brain cells into mouse brains more extensively than any previous attempt, described as a milestone for modelling human neural tissue in animals.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02912-8

Tumour cells actively remodel the tissue around them in ways that shield them from immune attack.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02703-1

Marine bacteria break down complex carbohydrates from algae through cooperation between species, rather than any single species doing the job alone.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02873-y

A mouse study strengthens the link between T cells and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, adding to evidence that the immune system plays an active role in brain decline.

Science · doi:10.1126/science.aem2422

Gut infections trigger protective immune cells to travel from the gut to the brain, pointing to a direct signalling route between gut infection and brain immunity.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02891-w

JanusX is a new integrated platform for genome-wide association studies and genomic selection, running up to 19 times faster than the widely used tool GEMMA and completing five-fold cross-validation on 500,000 individuals by 500,000 SNPs in about 35 minutes.

The Plant Journal · doi:10.1111/tpj.71105

Nature covers a new approach to molecular computation in which the computing process is driven by molecules moving down an energy gradient, rather than by external energy input at each step.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02878-7

A Nature comment argues that legal gaps in the international pet trade are putting wild reptile and amphibian populations at risk, and calls for those gaps to be closed.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02852-3

Nature examines what UK academics describe as the single greatest source of stress in a higher education sector many say is at a breaking point.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02608-z

The director of the US National Cancer Institute pushed back on a pessimistic funding outlook, saying the institute is funding more science than ever, even as observers describe him as walking a tightrope.

Science · doi:10.1126/science.aem2420

As CRISPR-edited crops move toward approval in Europe, a Nature comment argues the region's regulatory approach should be bolder than currently planned.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02848-z

A Nature editorial argues that AI companies need to work directly with the research community to preserve attribution as AI tools increasingly draw on published research.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02886-7

A new AI tool converts any research paper into an interactive agent that can be queried and can collaborate with other paper-agents to answer complex questions.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02899-2

China's $1 billion SinoProbe II project is producing early results on how continental fragments assembled and evolved, mapping structure deep beneath the country's surface.

Science · doi:10.1126/science.aem2418

Reporting from Chavin de Huantar in Peru, Science covers evidence that psychoactive substances played a role in spurring the development of Andean civilization.

Science · doi:10.1126/science.aem2423

Analysis of skeletal teeth has produced evidence of the earliest known habitual drug use, according to a Nature news briefing.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02901-x

A century after fraud allegations ended the career of zoologist Paul Kammerer, Nature argues his ideas about inherited traits deserve a fresh look given current research on epigenetic inheritance.

Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02851-4