A meta-analysis of 21 carbon-pricing schemes suggests that the strategy reduces greenhouse-gas emissions. Deciding how high to set prices is the next step — and one that might benefit from the insights of less-aggregated studies in various sectors.

The ape sex chromosomes have now been fully sequenced. Rapid evolution has led to extreme differences in the Y chromosome between species, whereas the X chromosome experienced much less dynamic changes. The palindromic structure of the Y chromosome has preserved genes relevant to fertility, hidden in the repetitive DNA.

Field studies reveal that the woody surfaces of upland trees are a substantial global sink for methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The findings help to fill a hole in the global methane budget and should improve the accuracy of climate models.

Precursor messenger RNA is edited into its final form by an RNA–protein assembly called the spliceosome. Structural evidence provides insights into how the spliceosome is disassembled when its job is complete.