A new lasso peptide antibiotic exhibits broad-spectrum activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria by interfering with bacterial protein synthesis, is unaffected by common resistance mechanisms and shows no toxicity towards human cells.

Ribosomes cooperate through transient collisions to ensure efficient translation.

Mohamed et al. report the cryoelectron microscopy structure of human AGO2 with fully paired guide RNA. Their analysis reveals the structural basis for the slicing activity that drives RNAi, showing that the slicing-competent conformation is achieved by domain movements and RNA-protein contacts distinct from those of conformational intermediates and prokaryotic homologs.