Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10270-8

Single-nucleus chromatin and RNA sequencing identifies epigenetic chromatin domains that confer vulnerability to paediatric brain tumours such as ependymomas, providing insight into the development of such tumours despite ‘quiet’ genomes.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10221-3

Intelligent and miniaturized drug delivery devices leveraging advances in biotechnology, artificial intelligence, electronics and materials science enable treatments with increased precision and responsiveness, with applications in cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other diseases.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10306-z

A study in Drosophilareveals a mechanism of non-homeostatic hunger and its critical relevance for memory consolidation.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10276-2

Data from cryogenic electron microscopy combined with hydrogen–deuterium exchange mass spectrometry inform a mechanism for cold-evoked activation of the TRPM8 channel, providing a structural and energetic framework to explain cold sensitivity.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10231-1

Starburst galaxies are seen to host galaxy-scale winds, which are super-fast and could be powered entirely by the thermal pressure of gas heated by supernovae.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10264-6

Androgen activity in the male embryonic hindbrain prolongs hindbrain differentiation in male individuals and drives sex differences in the incidence and prognosis of posterior fossa type A (PFA) ependymoma, an aggressive childhood brain tumour.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10288-y

Analyses of biobank data show that human variation such as age, sex and genetics, particularly at the major histocompatibility complex locus, is associated with viral abundance and supports a causal link between abundance of Epstein–Barr virus and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10255-7

Cas9 structures explain topology sensing and off-target activation.

Nature Medicine, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-025-04115-6

A blueprint to accelerate rare pediatric gene therapy approvals

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10130-5

An industrial-scale pilot project using co-injection of recirculated water for subsurface CO2 mineralization shows promise as a pathway for carbon sequestration in regions with limited access to water resources.

Nature Medicine, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04299-5

Results of the phase 2 POLAR trial show that biomarker-guided treatment in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer based on homologous repair deficiency leads to encouraging clinical response rates in immune cell-infiltrated tumors.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10281-5

Paracrine signalling between tuft cells and enterochromaffin cells is a key mode of immune–sensory and gut–brain communication, and accounts for the pattern of gastrointestinal symptoms that occurs during parasite infections.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10258-4

Colonic stem cells retain a memory of inflammation following disease resolution and there is a mechanistic link between chronic inflammation and malignancy, suggesting potential strategies to mitigate cancer risk in patients with chronic inflammatory conditions.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10265-5

An artificial intelligence system can produce research papers with minimal human involvement, even passing the first round of peer review for the workshop of a main machine learning conference.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10317-w

Magma drilling data from Krafla volcano, Iceland, are used to reconstruct in situ lithostatic magmatic conditions using disequilibrium simulations that provide a method for improving the understanding of magma storage conditions and evolution.

Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00899-w

AI Scientist, an autonomous research tool, first released in 2024, has now undergone peer review, highlighting its strengths and limitations.

Background: There is relatively limited psychological support dedicated to people living with long-term physical health conditions and subthreshold depressive disorder. Online peer support may be an appropriate intervention to help bolster patients’ mental well-being to prevent progression of their symptoms to major depressive disorder. For interventions to be successfully integrated into the self-management routines of people with long-term physical health conditions, they should be co-designed to ensure that they align with the wants and needs of the target audience. Objective: This study aims to coproduce an online peer support intervention with people with lived experience, software experts, clinicians, and academics through an iterative process of co-design and subsequent co-validation through usability testing. Methods: We followed a 4-stage coproduction process: co-assess, co-design, co-validate, and co-deliver. Our research advisory group was actively involved in all stages, consisting of 1 coinvestigator and 6 people with lived experience of long-term physical and/or mental health comorbidities. The co-assess and co-design stages involved our participatory design panel, which included 10 members living with various long-term conditions. The participatory design panel participated in online focus groups to assess their unmet psychosocial needs and then co-designed the intervention prototype through online workshops with software developers. The co-validation stage involved an additional group of participants (n=12) with long-term physical health conditions. During co-validation, the prototype underwent usability testing, including think-aloud exercises and semistructured interviews. Content analysis identified the priorities for the iterative development that formed the basis of further research advisory group co-design workshops. The next stage, co-delivery, involved coproducing the protocol of a feasibility and acceptability randomized controlled trial. Results: Participants highlighted that a platform must feel safe and trustworthy for the space to support the mental well-being of those living with long-term health conditions. The participatory design panel co-designed a platform prototype to meet this need. During the co-validation stage, the think-aloud exercises identified common issues related to navigation challenges and feature glitches. Content analysis of the semistructured interviews confirmed that the community forum, resources, and other platform pages were appropriate and acceptable, but revealed usability concerns. Participants stressed the need for intuitive navigation and suggested new features that would enhance user experience. Facilitators and barriers to engagement were also noted, including the importance of fostering trust in the platform’s ethos and branding to create a safe space. Through iterative development and subsequent usability testing, the final prototype was approved. Conclusions: We have provided a worked example of a comprehensive, coproduction process where we worked alongside people with lived experience to successfully design an online peer support platform with embedded psychoeducation. The platform, called CommonGround, is ready to be evaluated in a feasibility randomized controlled trial.

Nature Medicine, Published online: 24 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04298-6

Local control, remote expertise: governing therapeutic telemedicine in wartime

Nature Medicine, Published online: 24 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04253-5

In a large UK-based primary care randomized trial, immediate artificial intelligence (AI)-driven prioritization of chest X-rays did not significantly shorten time to computed tomography or lung cancer diagnosis versus standard workflow, suggesting that AI-based prioritization alone is unlikely to accelerate the lung cancer diagnostic pathway.

Cell Death Discovery, Published online: 24 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41420-026-03058-2

Salinomycin as a death switch: how gastric cancer cells choose their demise