complex

SummaryToday, oxygen fuels much of life on Earth, but it wasn't always that way. Three billion years ago, this gas was scarce in the atmosphere and oceans. Knowing why oxygen became plentiful could illuminate the evolution of our planet's…

How to catch a dynamic stateAMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a key sensor of energy status in eukaryotes. Its dynamic structure is regulated by allosteric factors including phosphorylation and binding of nucleotides and metabolites.…

Birds in the binIt is by now well accepted that humans are not the only animal to have complex culture, and we have also found that ecological novelty can lead to cultural innovation. Klump et al. documented the emergence of an evolving set…

Cell death limits pathogensDuring infection, Yersinia inhibition of the protein kinase TAK1 triggers cleavage of the pore-forming protein gasdermin D (GSDMD), which leads to a kind of inflammatory cell death called pyroptosis. In a…

SummaryNew genomic studies (1), new fossils (2, 3), and new dates of existing ones (4) suggest that our African origin has a deeper history—one that took place in the context of high population and lineage diversity and which was…