#ScientistAtWork 2026: <i>Nature</i> seeks striking photographs that capture researchers at work

Researchers at University College Dublin have identified a genetic "switch" that determines the sex of cannabis plants, and found the same system may exist in hops. The study, published in New Phytologist, pinpoints a specific section of the X chromosome that influences whether cannabis plants develop as male, female, or both.

A new study by a University at Buffalo social work researcher shows that 43% of frontline workers in the homeless services sector nationally reported an intention to leave their jobs. The findings published in the International Journal on Homelessness represent the first scholarly examination of what's driving turnover by surveying current employees who were considering a job change.

The endangered Black Sea harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena relicta) is facing a critical fight for survival. As Europe's smallest marine mammal, this isolated population is being pushed toward extinction by bycatch—the unintentional entanglement in fishing gear. The crisis is most acute in the Black Sea turbot fishery, where recent estimates reveal that more than 10,000 porpoises die annually.

Scientists at Stanford University have discovered that DRT3, a unique defense system found in bacteria, creates DNA to protect against viral infections. DRT3 is made up of two different enzymes called reverse transcriptases, Drt3a and Drt3b, and a piece of noncoding RNA (ncRNA). Together, this trio makes long, double-stranded DNA consisting of alternating repeats (GT/AC).