Flora Graham

3 days ago | nature.com | Flora Graham

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. Disulfide synthase differs from an enzyme commonly found in plants and animals by just three amino acids. (Kirsanov Valeriy Vladimirovich/Shutterstock)How the skunk cabbage gets its stinkA small tweak to a common plant enzyme gives the skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus renifolius) and several other stinky plants the ability to produce their stench.

1 week ago | nature.com | Flora Graham

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. No diver is an islandA tradition of diving on the South Korean island of Jeju might have influenced the genomes of all of the islanders. The Haenyeo — meaning ‘women of the sea’ — have been cold-water diving year-round and without any breathing apparatus for centuries.

1 week ago | nature.com | Flora Graham

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. Blood, sweat and antivenomThe blood of a snake fancier who has been bitten by venomous snakes hundreds of times has been used to develop a potent antivenom. The therapy protects mice against the venoms of 19 species of dangerous snake, including the deadly king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah). The research could lead to direly needed treatments, scientists say.

1 week ago | nature.com | Flora Graham

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. A rose by any other geometryThe curled edges and pointed corners of rose petals form thanks to a geometric trick never before observed in nature. Using a combination of theoretical analysis, simulations and good old plastic sheets, physicists found that a type of mechanical feedback regulates the petals’ growth as they curl outwards.

2 weeks ago | nature.com | Flora Graham

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. Dopamine hit overwrites memories of fearIn mice, dopamine acts on neurons in a brain region called the basolateral amygdala (BLA) to kick-start fear extinction — the overwriting of fearful memories when danger has passed. Researchers found that this dopamine is produced in a separate part of the brain called the ventral tegmental area.