Stories by Smriti Mallapaty

Shi Zhengli, the virologist at the center of COVID lab-leak theory, reveals coronavirus sequences from the Wuhan institute

Scientists have identified more than 30 different pathogens that they fear could cause the next big pandemic in humans

A man in Germany is HIV-free after receiving stem cells that are not resistant to the virus

Virologists say that the bird flu strain that is infecting cattle in the U.S. is unlikely to cause a pandemic in humans, but countries are gathering vaccines and stepping up surveillance just in case

As the patents on various weight-loss drugs near expiration, companies in India and China are vying to make lower-cost versions that will widen access to such treatments

Following Mexico’s election of a woman with a scientific pedigree, Nature reviewed the legacy of well-known politicians with backgrounds in science and engineering.

The H5N1 virus is a long way from becoming adapted to humans, but limited testing and tracking mean we could miss danger signs

Genomic analysis suggests that the outbreak probably began in December or January, but a shortage of data is hampering efforts to pin down the source

Boosting vaccination rates, continuing widespread mask use and reimposing some restrictions on movement could reduce the number of deaths in China’s COVID wave

A genome analysis finds SARS-CoV-2 and bat coronaviruses shared an ancestor just a few years ago, but extensive recombination has muddied the picture

China’s Tiangong orbital outpost will host more than 1,000 experiments, some of which will augment results from the International Space Station

Radar images from the Zhurong rover reveal clues to the history of a largely unexplored region

One third of the country is underwater following an intense heat wave and a long monsoon that has dumped a record amount of rain

A technique that detects coronavirus strains circulating in a community could become an early-warning system

Scientists in Thailand have established that a tabby passed SARS-CoV-2 to a veterinary surgeon—although such cases of cat-to-human transmission are probably rare

Samples collected by Chang’e-5 are revealing exciting insights into the moon’s evolution

Hamsters are only the second species known to have spread SARS-CoV-2 to humans

Studies of bats in China and Laos show southeast Asia is a hotspot for potentially dangerous viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2

The 2019–20 wildfires generated 700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide—but a lot of that might have been mopped up by phytoplankton in the ocean

Innate immunity might be the key to why children have fared better with the virus. But the Delta variant poses fresh unknowns

Reprisals may come for their field of study, their ethnicity or involvement in international collaborations

The spaceborne studies will cover diverse topics, from dark matter and gravitational waves to the growth of cancer and pathogenic bacteria

An examination of the arguments that SARS-CoV-2 escaped from a lab in China and the science behind them

The virus is spreading faster than ever before in the country despite previous high infection rates in megacities, which should have conferred some protection