With open eyes and an open mind, Dr. Jane Goodall made discoveries that rocked the scientific world, forever changing the way we look at our closest living relatives—and ourselves.The revolutionary di...

Mammals display prominent diversity in the ability to regenerate damaged ear pinna, but the genetic changes underlying the failure of regeneration remain elusive. We performed comparative single-cell ...

As HHMI pauses Hanna Gray fellowship applications, opportunities for young scientists shrink further, making them look overseas.

Objectives To investigate the effects of overwork on brain structure to better understand its impact on workers’ cognitive and emotional health. The goal was to provide evidence for the potential neur...

Labeling the plasma membrane for advanced imaging remains a significant challenge. For time-lapse live cell imaging, probe internalization and photobleaching are major limitations affecting most membr...

US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

The Spo11 complex catalyses the formation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), initiating meiotic recombination—a process that is essential for fertility and genetic diversity1,2. Although the function of Spo11 has been known for 27 years, previous efforts to reconstitute DSB formation in vitro have been unsuccessful. Here we biochemically characterize the mouse SPO11–TOP6BL protein complex, and show that this complex cleaves DNA and covalently attaches to the 5′ terminus of DNA breaks in vitro. Using a point-mutation strategy, we reveal that Mg2+ is essential for the DNA-cleavage activity of this complex in vitro, as confirmed by knock-in mice carrying a point mutation in SPO11 that disrupts its binding to Mg2+, thereby abolishing DSB formation. However, the activity of the SPO11 complex is ATP-independent. We also present evidence that the mouse SPO11 complex is biochemically distinct from the ancestral topoisomerase VI. Our findings establish a mechanistic framework for understanding

Roughly 6,000 readers answered our poll, with many declaring that Bluesky was nicer, kinder and less antagonistic to science than X.

At least it feels a lot like old science Twitter, and now science journals and organisations are joining as well.