Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 23 September 2026 · From issue 41

Adaptability of the GroEL/GroES chaperonin to proteostatic challenge revealed by directed evolution

In bacteria, one leftover helper protein evolved to replace two missing partner proteins.

Marie-Pierre Castanié-Cornet, Tatsuya Niwa et al.

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Also in issue 41 15 papers

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In mice, two specific phage antibodies stopped phage therapy from working against bacteria.
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In fruit flies, eating less protein as a baby made adults live longer.
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In insect cells, a cricket virus disables an immune gene by making cells read it from the wrong starting point.
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A new learning rule trains networks well without needing matched two-way wiring between neurons.
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A blood signal from menopause lines up with faster brain aging and dementia risk.
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Bank records show financial abuse victims lose savings, gain debt, and miss more payments.
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In a quantum processor, a feedback loop found and locked in rare orderly patterns hidden in chaos.
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Chemists broke open a hard to open ring molecule using a boron helper and light or metal catalysts.
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In a lab device, repeated strong electric pulses locked a switching material into a predictable pattern.
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A skin-safe gel generates its own electric signal when squeezed, tracking heartbeats without a battery.
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Groups beat lone searchers only when they could see each other's scores.
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