《自然》（20260129出版）一周论文导读

 

编译|李言

Nature, 29 January 2026, Volume 649 Issue 8099

《自然》2026年1月29日，第649卷，8099期

材料科学Material Sciences

Low-power integrated optical amplification through second-harmonic resonance

通过二次谐波共振实现低功耗集成光放大

▲ 作者：Devin J. Dean, Taewon Park et al.

▲链接：

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09959-z

▲摘要：

研究者展示了一种基于薄膜铌酸锂平台的集成光参量放大器，该器件在输入功率低于200毫瓦的条件下实现了超过17分贝的增益，比先前演示的性能提升了一个数量级。

研究者采用二次谐波谐振设计，在不牺牲带宽的前提下，通过光场循环利用同时提升了泵效率（转换率达95%）和泵浦功率利用率。

相较于传统的单通式结构，该谐振架构将有效泵浦功率提升了近十倍，并实现了信号与泵浦光的复用。

实验证明，该器件在110纳米带宽范围内展现出平坦的接近量子极限的低噪声特性。这种低功耗架构为实现下一代量子与经典光子学系统中的实用化片上光参量放大器提供了可行路径。

▲ Abstract：

Here we demonstrate an integrated OPA on thin-film lithium niobate that achieves >17?dB gain with <200?mW input power—an order of magnitude improvement over previous demonstrations. Our second-harmonic-resonant design enhances both pump generation efficiency (95% conversion) and pump power utilization through recirculation, without sacrificing bandwidth. The resonant architecture increases the effective pump power by nearly an order of magnitude compared with conventional single-pass designs, while also multiplexing the signal and pump. We demonstrate flat near-quantum-limited noise performance over 110?nm. Our low-power architecture enables practical on-chip OPAs for next-generation quantum and classical photonics.

化学Chemistry

Extreme barocaloric effect at dissolution

极端溶解压卡效应

▲ 作者：Kun Zhang, Yifang Liu et al.

▲链接：

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-10013-1

▲摘要：

研究者报道了基于硫氰酸铵水溶液在压力调控溶解与结晶过程中实现的极端压热效应。该机制能产生异常巨大的制冷量与显著提升的制冷效率。实验在室温溶液中实现了26.8K的原位温降，超越所有已知的热效应材料。

得益于溶液自循环带来的极大温降与直接传热优势，研究设计的类卡诺循环每周期可提供67J/g的制冷量，第二定律效率达77%。这一突破相变范式的溶解基制冷方法，融合了当前主流技术的优势，有望成为可持续发展的新型制冷解决方案。

▲ Abstract：

Here we report an extreme barocaloric effect in NH4SCN aqueous solutions enabled by pressure-tuned dissolution and precipitation. This mechanism delivers an exceptionally large cooling capacity and markedly enhanced cooling efficiency. We obtain an in situ temperature drop of 26.8?K in the solution at room temperature, surpassing all known caloric materials. A Carnot-like cycle is designed to deliver 67?J?g?1 cooling capacity per cycle with a second-law efficiency of 77%, benefiting from the extremely large temperature drops and direct heat transfer due to the self-circulating aqueous solution. Beyond the phase-transition scenario, this dissolution-based approach that combines the merits of current leading technologies emerges as a promising sustainable refrigeration solution.

生物学Biology

An ancient recombination desert is a speciation supergene in placental mammals

一个古老的重组基因沙漠是胎盘哺乳动物中的一个物种形成超基因

▲ 作者：Nicole M. Foley, Richard G. Rasulis et al.

▲链接：

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09740-2

▲摘要：

通过深度学习技术，研究者对22种高分化胎盘哺乳动物的基因组比对数据进行分析，推断了重组景观的演化历程。他们鉴定出一个占据X染色体30%长度、在演化中高度保守的大型连锁重组基因沙漠。

基于94个物种的重组感知系统基因组学分析表明，该X连锁重组沙漠是古老且反复出现的基因流动屏障，在基因渐渗主导基因组整体祖先背景时仍能保留物种历史信息。

这一超基因的功能基础具有多重性，其区域富集了影响性染色体沉默与繁殖性状的相关基因。由于该位点支撑着跨目级谱系的生殖隔离，它可能成为解析哺乳动物系统发育中复杂亲缘关系的可靠标记。

▲ Abstract：

Here we applied deep learning methods to genome alignments from 22 divergent placental mammal species to infer the evolution of the recombination landscape. We identified a large and evolutionarily conserved X-linked recombination desert constituting 30% of the chromosome. Recombination-aware phylogenomic analyses from 94 species revealed that the X-linked recombination desert is an ancient and recurrent barrier to gene flow and retains the species history when introgression dominates genome-wide ancestry. The functional basis for this supergene is manifold, enriched with genes that influence sex chromosome silencing and reproduction traits. Because the locus underpins reproductive isolation across ordinal lineages, it may represent a reliable marker for resolving challenging relationships across the mammalian phylogeny.

A direct role for a mitochondrial targeting sequence in signalling stress

线粒体靶向序列在应激信号传导中的直接作用

▲ 作者：Zixuan Yuan, Megan Balzarini et al.

▲链接：

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09834-x

▲摘要：

研究者揭示了在芽殖酵母中，保守的线粒体Hsp70辅助伴侣蛋白Mge1可作为应激信号分子发挥作用。

在线粒体应激状态下，未被成功导入线粒体的Mge1进入细胞核，激活线粒体蛋白质应激反应（mitoCPR）靶基因的转录。这一过程由Mge1与转录因子Pdr3在DNA调控元件上的直接相互作用介导。

Mge1的线粒体靶向序列既是诱导mitoCPR的充分条件，也是必要条件，表明靶向序列不仅参与线粒体蛋白质输入，还可作为信号分子发挥作用。鉴于蛋白质输入障碍是多种线粒体损伤的共同后果，这些发现提示Mge1的靶向序列可能具有指示线粒体健康状况的新功能。

▲ Abstract：

Here we reveal that the conserved mitochondrial Hsp70 co-chaperone, Mge1, acts as a stress messenger in budding yeast. During mitochondrial stress, unimported Mge1 entered the nucleus and triggered the transcription of mitoCPR target genes. This was mediated by the interaction of Mge1 with the transcription factor Pdr3 on DNA regulatory elements. The mitochondrial targeting sequence of Mge1 was both sufficient and essential for mitoCPR induction, demonstrating that in addition to their roles in mitochondrial protein import, targeting sequences can also function as signalling molecules. As protein import defects are a common consequence of various types of mitochondrial damage, these findings suggest a novel function for the targeting sequence of Mge1 as an indicator of mitochondrial health.

人工智能Artificial Intellligence

Artificial intelligence tools expand scientists’ impact but contract science’s focus

人工智能工具拓展了科学家的影响力，同时缩小了科学研究的探索

▲ 作者：Qianyue Hao, Fengli Xu, Yong Li & James Evans

▲链接：

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09922-y

▲摘要：

通过一个涵盖自然科学领域、包含4130万篇研究论文且横跨不同人工智能时代的数据集，研究者揭示了科学家对人工智能工具的加速采纳及其带来的持续职业优势，但同时也伴随着科学研究探索的集体性收窄。

使用人工智能辅助研究的科学家，其论文发表量是未使用者的3.02倍，获得的引用量是4.84倍，且平均提早1.37年成为研究项目负责人。

相比之下，人工智能的普及使科学界研究的主题总量缩减了4.63%，科学家之间的学术互动减少了22%。因此，人工智能在科学领域的应用呈现出一种看似矛盾的现象：它扩大了个别科学家的影响力，却收缩了科学整体的探索范围——因为人工智能辅助的研究集体性地转向了数据最密集的领域。

由于后续交流互动的减少，人工智能工具似乎更倾向于自动化既有领域，而非开拓新方向，这凸显了个人学术晋升与集体科学进步之间的张力。

▲ Abstract：

Using a dataset of 41.3 million research papers across the natural sciences and covering distinct eras of AI, here we show an accelerated adoption of AI tools among scientists and consistent professional advantages associated with AI usage, but a collective narrowing of scientific focus. Scientists who engage in AI-augmented research publish 3.02 times more papers, receive 4.84 times more citations and become research project leaders 1.37 years earlier than those who do not. By contrast, AI adoption shrinks the collective volume of scientific topics studied by 4.63% and decreases scientists’ engagement with one another by 22%. By consequence, adoption of AI in science presents what seems to be a paradox: an expansion of individual scientists’ impact but a contraction in collective science’s reach, as AI-augmented work moves collectively towards areas richest in data. With reduced follow-on engagement, AI tools seem to automate established fields rather than explore new ones, highlighting a tension between personal advancement and collective scientific progress.

医学Medicine

Whole-genome landscapes of 1,364 breast cancers

对1364例乳腺癌样本的全基因组图谱分析

▲ 作者：Ryul Kim, Jonghan Yu et al.

▲链接：

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09812-3

▲摘要：

研究者通过对1364例具有临床注释的乳腺癌样本进行全基因组测序分析（多数样本同时具备转录组数据），系统刻画了其基因组全景图谱，并揭示了基因组特征的临床意义。研究扩展了致癌性变异的类型谱系，鉴定了新的驱动基因、高频基因融合、结构性变异与拷贝数变异。

基于拷贝数变异的时序分析表明，基因组不稳定性在肿瘤确诊前数十年即已出现，这为理解肿瘤发生的早期机制提供了线索。

模式驱动的基因组特征——包括突变特征、同源重组缺陷状态、肿瘤突变负荷及肿瘤异质性评分——均与临床预后显著相关，凸显其作为预测性生物标志物的潜力，可用于评估CDK4/6抑制剂、HER2抑制剂以及辅助与新辅助化疗等治疗方案的临床效果。

这些发现表明，大规模临床注释的全基因组测序能够有力推动理解基因组变异如何影响患者预后，为乳腺癌精准诊疗体系的构建提供关键数据支撑。

▲ Abstract：

Here, to comprehensively characterize its genomic landscape and the clinical significance of genomic characteristics, we analysed whole-genome sequences from 1,364 clinically annotated breast cancers, with transcriptome data available for most cases. Our study expands the repertoire of oncogenic alterations and identifies novel driver genes, recurrent gene fusions, structural variants and copy number alterations. Timing analyses on copy number alterations suggest that genomic instability emerges decades before tumour diagnosis, and offer insights into early initiation of tumorigenesis. Pattern-driven genomic features, including mutational signatures2, homologous recombination deficiency3, tumour mutational burden and tumour heterogeneity scores4, were associated with clinical outcomes, highlighting their potential utility as predictive biomarkers for clinical evaluation of treatments such as CDK4/6 and HER2 inhibitors, as well as adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy. These findings highlight the power of large-scale, clinically annotated whole-genome sequencing in advancing our understanding of how genomic alterations shape patient outcomes.