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K.C.H. and B.D.K. used ChatGPT to help prepare their contribution to this Research Briefing.

This is a summary of: Knapp, B. D. et al. Metabolic rearrangement enables adaptation of microbial growth rate to temperature shifts. Nat. Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-024-01841-4 (2024).