Daily briefing: Pigeons might find their way by following their liver

You have full access to this article via your institution. Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here . Homing pigeons can use the Sun to find their way in broad daylight, but fall back on Earth’s magnetic field as a guide when it’s overcast or dark. (Christian Ziegler/Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior) Iron-loaded immune cells in the livers of homing pigeons could help the birds navigate using Earth’s magnetic field. Researchers found that macrophages in pigeon liver tissue are full of a magnetic form of iron called ferritin . When the team depleted these cells in a group of homing pigeons and released them in overcast conditions, the birds got lost along a route they’d nailed in the sunshine. The results are “intriguing”, but don’t confirm that ferritin is behind the pigeons’ knack for navigation, says sensory ecologist Catherine Lohmann. Science | 6 min read Reference: Science paper The first clinical trial aimed at using gene therapy to grow new heart-muscle cells is now underway — one of a new wave of such treatments to regenerate the heart. Some scientists are cautiously optimistic that these therapies could one day be used to treat conditions such as heart failure. But others remain sceptical, in part because the field’s past is mired in controversy . …