Nature Biotechnology, Published online: 26 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41587-026-03153-wBuilding a living cell from scratch requires overcoming a bottleneck that has remained unresolved despite decades of progress: orchestrating the spatiotemporal integration of core functional modules. To tackle this barrier, the SynCell Asia Initiative outlines a strategy for developing core functional modules followed by their systems-level integration through the establishment of a centralized, artificial intelli

Nature, Published online: 20 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10572-xA fungal long non-coding RNA from Magnaporthe oryzae translocates into rice cells to sequester a host microRNA that normally represses PKR1, a negative immunity regulator, thereby facilitating infection and revealing a widespread RNA-based pathogen–host interaction mechanism.

A mitochondrial transplantation approach rescues mitochondrial deficiency and prevents mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, Leigh syndrome, and Parkinson’s disease in cellular and mouse models.