A first for CRISPR: powerful prime editing alters DNA directly in the human body Application of the high-precision technique is part of a clinical trial to treat a genetic disease that can cause liver and nerve damage. By Heidi Ledford

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03371-x?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=8cc2b96d1b-nature-briefing-daily-20261023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 First use of prime editing inside the body A powerful gene-editing technique called prime editing has been used to alter DNA directly in a person’s body for the first time. Biotech firm Prime Medicine used the method, which can insert, delete and rewrite segments of DNA, to treat a condition called Wilson disease. The edit targeted a mutation that prevented liver cells from eliminating excess copper. Prime Medicine is one of a slew of companies aiming to engineer cells in the body, which could be cheaper and faster than the conventional method of extracting cells, editing them and reinjecting them.

Moderna mRNA vaccine almost halves the risk of skin cancer returning Long-awaited results from phase III trial show huge benefits for treatment-resistant melanoma. By Mohana Basu

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03417-0?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=8cc2b96d1b-nature-briefing-daily-20261023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 Vaccine cuts risk of skin cancer coming back A personalized mRNA vaccine has reduced the risk of skin cancer returning or the recipient dying by 42% when used alongside an immunotherapy drug. The vaccine, called intismeran, is designed to prevent tumours regrowing in people who’ve had surgery to remove them. A more than 40% risk reduction “would send many researchers over the Moon”, says geneticist Seth Cheetham. Researchers from US vaccine-developers Merck and Moderna were set to present the results at the European Society for Medical Oncology tomorrow, but announced them early after the data leaked online.

New 'Scentronic' technology can detect and transmit aromas remotely By Will Dunham

https://www.reuters.com/science/new-scentronic-technology-can-detect-transmit-aromas-remotely-2026-10-23/?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=8cc2b96d1b-nature-briefing-daily-20261023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 “The idea is to ​add smell to the visual and audio information we already share.” Would you want to get a whiff of this newsletter? Materials scientist Chunyu Yang and his colleagues have created a prototype device that recognizes certain smells, such as coffee, and can trigger the same odour to be released by a gadget in another location. (Reuters | 7 min read)

First person infected with rare Shamonda virus: what we know Infectious-disease researchers say the risk of the livestock pathogen moving between people is low. By Rachel Fieldhouse

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03416-1?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=8cc2b96d1b-nature-briefing-daily-20261023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 What we know about Shamonda virus The first human death has been attributed to a newly discovered type of orthobunyavirus that has been making cows ill in Europe. The man, who was in his 60s and lived in rural France, had a severely weakened immune system because of blood cancer. The virus, Shamonda virus Europe 1 (SHAV-EU1), was detected in Europe for the first time in July 2026 in cattle — around the same time that the man is thought to have been infected. Little is known about the virus or how it affects the body, but experts say that the risk of infections passing between people is low.

Teen depression and anxiety predicted by childhood brain development Analysis of nearly 30,000 brain scans yields detailed timeline of how the brain matures — and hints at the consequences of disrupting it. By Max Kozlov

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03357-9?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=99d3550b4b-nature-briefing-daily-20261022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 Brain progress could affect mental health The emergence of mental-health conditions in teenagers could be forecast by the speed at which certain regions of their brain develop. A study of nearly 12,000 young people in the United States suggests that vulnerability to conditions such as depression in adolescents could involve disruption of the brain’s developmental timeline and could be set in motion by genes that are active before birth. The findings reveal small population-level patterns, says systems neuroscientist Avram Holmes, but can’t be used to track the trajectory of an individual child.

Huge mapping study reveals how your brain tracks what your body is feeling Signals in the insula region, deep in the brain, can make people feel hot, tingly and nauseous. By Gemma Conroy

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03334-2?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=99d3550b4b-nature-briefing-daily-20261022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 A look inside the insula Scientists have mapped the mysterious insula in the human brain in unprecedented detail. The results detail how this region is organized to support the brain’s processing of bodily sensation: one region is responsible for the feeling of pain in some body parts, a second generates sensations such as nausea felt by internal organs and a third ‘talks’ to other brain areas involved in emotion and cognition. The latter area allows for the insula to work with the cortex — the seat of higher-order cognition — to affect how the brain interprets various sensations.

As Ebola epidemic rages, Congo bets on high-stakes ‘hope’ vaccine trial Study will first test a “mismatched” vaccine, but Bundibugyo-specific shots may be added as early as next month 20 Oct 20264:45 PM ETByKai Kupferschmidt

https://www.science.org/content/article/ebola-epidemic-rages-congo-bets-high-stakes-hope-vaccine-trial?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=99d3550b4b-nature-briefing-daily-20261022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 A phase II/III trial of a vaccine against Ebola could see its first doses administered as soon as this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where there have been more than 9,500 known cases and more than 4,600 deaths, reports Science. The trial, named Tumaini — Swahili for “hope” — will first use a vaccine called Ervebo that targets a ‘mismatched’ ebolavirus species, ‘Zaire’ — the outbreak in DRC involves the Bundibugyo species. The goal is to add vaccine candidates developed specifically to target Bundibugyo — such as ChAdOx1, developed by a University of Oxford group in the United Kingdom — after they graduate from phase I clinical trials.