Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 29 October 2026 · From issue 59

Ddx3x deficiency in mice impairs corticofugal motor circuits and causes motor deficits that are attenuated by early-life exercise

In mice, a weakened autism-linked gene breaks motor brain wiring, but early exercise helps fix it.

Lauren Dierdorff, Ikrame El Khaldi et al.

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Also in issue 59 15 papers

In mice and lab cells, a new drug shrank tumors by blocking a protein-building enzyme.
Nature
In mice, immune cells in skin release a signal that controls stem cell growth and barrier strength.
Science
In Canada's 2023 fires, small gas emissions caused large spikes in toxic air pollution.
Geophysical Research Letters
Loss of deep-rooted plants weakened a natural process that pulls carbon dioxide from the air.
Science Advances
Freshwater animals face more overlapping threats than land animals, especially near dams and cities.
Science
In human cells, spindle filaments space themselves by density and two motor proteins, not by spanning the whole cell.
Nature Communications
In simulations, special "magic number" vortex patterns made the whole energy map far simpler.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Different flat surfaces on clay grab heavy rare earth metals in different ways depending on water acidity.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In premature babies, a key brain region follows its own timetable and does not catch up.
Science
Africa's total water demand hit 347 cubic kilometers in 2020, mostly for farming.
Nature
Ancient people avoided areas with water but no good toolmaking stone, even in Arabia's desert.
Nature
In lab tests, thrombin trims a Parkinson's protein, changing how it clumps and works.
Nature Communications
A shorter, one week rabies vaccine schedule made fewer antibodies than the standard one month schedule.
PLOS Medicine
A black hole's winds weakened as it switched to shooting out a fast particle jet.
The Astrophysical Journal

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