Zeng

Nature Chemistry, Published online: 16 December 2021; doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00847-3

Threose nucleic acid (TNA) is a potential RNA evolutionary progenitor and a nuclease-resistant synthetic genetic polymer. Now, a TNA catalyst that cleaves RNA has been identified in vitro. The TNA catalyst shows strong sequence selectivity towards a mutant RNA substrate involved in drug resistance, resulting in selective gene silencing in eukaryotic cells.

Nature Communications, Published online: 01 November 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26342-4

CrI3 is a popular van der Waals magnet that exhibits anomalous magnetic properties between bulk and thin layers due to different crystal symmetry. Here, the authors report the coexistence of different magnetostructural phases over the entire range of temperatures, solving a long-standing puzzle.