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Analysis of data from Gaia Data Release 3 and other large spectroscopic surveys shows that nearly 60% of high-quality young clusters within 1 kpc of the Sun originated from just three distinct star-forming complexes.

Acute respiratory distress in macaques and baboons recapitulates COVID-19 disease progression in humans, making them suitable as models to test vaccines and therapies.

Aging-related Meibomian gland shrinkage is associated with dry eye disease. Here, the authors identify Meibomian gland stem cell populations and identify regulatory pathways altered in aging, suggesting new therapeutic targets for Meibomian gland dysfunction.

Protein condensates exhibit diverse material properties linked to cellular functions, yet characterizing these properties remains challenging. Here, the authors employ a microfluidic sample deposition and nanometre-resolution mapping technique to characterize the time-dependent material properties in FUS protein condensates, revealing two distinct phase transitions within FUS condensates.

Genome-wide analyses in over one million self-reported cases and controls identify genetic variants associated with stuttering and find genetic correlations with autism, depression and impaired musical rhythm, supporting a potential neurological basis for stuttering.

The three-dimensional structure of all cloud complexes in the solar neighbourhood is revealed, showing a narrow and coherent 2.7-kpc arrangement of dense gas, in disagreement with the Gould Belt model.

A second hit to Brca1 in heterozygous mice leads to accelerated tumor development compared to wild-type mice in which both alleles are simultaneously deleted. This is because of an epigenetic state associated with Brca1 haploinsufficiency that impacts AP-1 and Wnt10a.

Geospatial estimates of the prevalence of anemia in women of reproductive age across 82 low-income and middle-income countries reveals considerable heterogeneity and inequality at national and subnational levels, with few countries on track to meet the WHO Global Nutrition Targets by 2030.

Using well-calibrated statistical methods the authors jointly analyze Undiagnosed Diseases Network genomes, identifying known and novel disease genes. Software is publicly available to support future cross-cohort rare disease discovery efforts.

Three-dimensional analysis of the solar neighbourhood shows that nearly all star-forming regions near the Sun lie on the surface of the Local Bubble, which was inflated by supernovae about 14 million years ago.

By combining modelling and simulated data with empirical data from 76 grassland sites across 6 continents, the authors show that the relative abundance of dominant species predicts species richness, while their absolute abundance predicts community biomass.

Spatial and kinematic analysis of the solar neighbourhood shows that the Radcliffe Wave, a wave-shaped chain of star-forming gas clouds, is oscillating through the Galactic plane while also drifting radially away from the Galactic Centre.

Linterman and colleagues examine germinal center formation in older individuals. They find that aged T_FH cells have dysregulated CXCR4 expression, which causes spatial mislocalization of these cells in germinal centers, impairing their ability to provide help to B cells and to promote antibody production.

A high-density genomic variation map from 744 genomes encompassing maize and all wild taxa of the genus Zea reveals evidence of adaptive variation and provides a genus-wide resource of genetic diversity in Zea.

The link between amyloid and tau proteins with Alzheimer’s disease progression remains unclear. Here, the authors propose HDACs I downregulation as an element linking the deleterious effects of brain proteinopathies with disease progression.

Microbiota impacts all major aspects of physiology, but little is known about its effects on age-related changes in immune responses. Here the authors show that gut microbiota transfer between adult and old mice increases local but not systemic germinal centre responses regardless of age directionality.

Valosin-Containing Protein (VCP) is linked to diverse degenerative diseases. Here, the authors show that Small VCP Interacting Protein (SVIP) recruits VCP to lysosomes, with gain and loss of SVIP muscle expression modifying neural degeneration, animal behaviour and lifespan.

Fine-scale geospatial mapping of overweight and wasting (two components of the double burden of malnutrition) in 105 LMICs shows that overweight has increased from 5.2% in 2000 to 6.0% in children under 5 in 2017. Although overall wasting decreased over the same period, most countries are not on track to meet the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025.

Analysis of hematopoietic stem cells from six individuals with sickle cell disease who had been treated with autologous gene therapy revealed positive selective pressure on cells containing mutations in genes associated with clonal hematopoiesis and hematological malignancies.

Compound MMV006833 inhibits ring-stage development of Plasmodium falciparum. Here, the authors show that it targets lipid transfer enzyme PfSTART1 and prevents PfSTART1 from expanding the vacuole membrane encasing the parasite after red blood cell invasion, thereby blocking parasite growth.

Corals have evolved as finely tuned light collectors. Here, the authors report on the 3D printing of coral-inspired biomaterials, that mimic the coral-algal symbiosis; these bionic corals lead to dense microalgal growth and can find applications in algal biotechnology and applied coral science.

Changes in semen quality over the last 50 years correspond with increasing environmental stressors. Here, Moon et al. causally identified stress-mediated changes in secreted extracellular vesicles as regulators of sperm motility in mice and men.

A high-resolution, global atlas of mortality of children under five years of age between 2000 and 2017 highlights subnational geographical inequalities in the distribution, rates and absolute counts of child deaths by age.

Hypermutation and microsatellite burden determine responses and long-term survival following PD-1 blockade in children and young adults with refractory cancers resulting from germline DNA replication repair deficiency.

The authors report that a change to lysosome morphology, from vesicular to tubular form, supports lifespan extension upon dietary restriction and promotes heightened autophagy and healthy aging when stimulated artificially in well-fed animals.

Exercise has beneficial effects on cognition. Here, authors utilize an exercise model to show ACVR1C to be an essential bidirectional regulator of memory and synaptic plasticity in adult, aging and 5xFAD mice beyond the context of exercise.

Perivascular and leptomeningeal macrophages, collectively termed here parenchymal border macrophages, are shown to regulate flow dynamics of cerebrospinal fluid, implicating this cell population as new therapeutic targets in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Several oncogenic mutations have been identified in melanoma; however, despite exhaustive sequencing, in a subset of melanomas no oncogenic mutation has been identified. Here, the authors identify new genomic rearrangements causing oncogenic fusions between the kinase domain of MET and several N-terminal partners in Spitzoid tumours.

Bhattacharjee and Schaeffer et al. map exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in 94 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), finding increased EBF practice and reduced subnational variation across the majority of LMICs from 2000 to 2018. However, only six LMICs will meet WHO’s target of ≥70% EBF by 2030 nationally, and only three will achieve this in all districts.

Smithers et al. find that, although there is some evidence that non-cognitive skills are associated with improved academic, psychosocial and health outcomes, the evidence is weak and heterogeneous. More rigorous research is required in this field.

Patients with mild COVID-19 show a pattern of interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) expression across all major cell types, but in patients with severe disease, antibodies block the production of these ISG-expressing cells.

A cell-sorting method leveraging leucine zippers allows for the generation of T cells displaying multiple chimaeric antigen receptors as well as receptors converting inhibitory signals into stimulatory signals.

A meta-analysis of peer-review data from over 300,000 biological sciences manuscripts reveals worse review outcomes for authors from historically excluded groups, and limited data evaluating the effectiveness of interventions to address bias in peer review.

A longitudinal analysis of viral expansion and clearance rates in 60 individuals sampled daily during acute infection reveals high inter-individual variation in infectious virus shedding, which may contribute to superspreading.

The authors find that the insulin receptor forms dynamic clusters during insulin signaling and that these clusters become dysfunctional in insulin resistance. This dysfunction is partially rescued by metformin, a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes.

Self-gravity plays a decisive role in the final stages of star formation, where dense cores inside molecular clouds collapse to form star-plus-disk systems. But the role of self-gravity at earlier times is unclear. This paper reports a dendogram analysis that reveals that self-gravity plays a significant role over the full range of scales traced by ¹³CO observations in L1448, but not everywhere in the observed region.

A coupled thermal, geophysical and dynamical simulation covering 4.5 Gyr of evolution of Saturn’s inner mid-sized moons shows that, with the possible exception of Mimas, they formed early in Saturn’s history. A complex game of resonances has impacted the four older moons, shaping their geology and interior.

In a cross-cultural study of eight diverse societies, House et al. provide evidence that links societal variation in prosociality to the development of a universal psychology for responding to social norms.

Solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of infectious disease and have unique molecular pathophysiology. Here the authors use host-microbe profiling to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection and immunity in solid organ transplant recipients, showing enhanced viral abundance, impaired clearance, and increased expression of innate immunity genes.

Contact-angle and spectroscopy experiments on clean supported graphene and graphite show that these surfaces become more hydrophobic as they adsorb airborne hydrocarbons. Furthermore, the water contact angle on these graphitic surfaces decreases if these contaminants are partially removed by both thermal annealing and controlled ultraviolet–ozone treatments, suggesting that graphitic surfaces are more hydrophilic than previously believed.

Human brain structure changes throughout the lifespan. Brouwer et al. identified genetic variants that affect rates of brain growth and atrophy. The genes are linked to early brain development and neurodegeneration and suggest involvement of metabolic processes.

Cortex morphology varies with age, cognitive function, and in neurological and psychiatric diseases. Here the authors report 160 genome-wide significant associations with thickness, surface area and volume of the total cortex and 34 cortical regions from a GWAS meta-analysis in 22,824 adults.

Single-cell transcriptional profiling of primary human synovial sarcoma tumors suggests that combinatorial treatment with HDAC and CDK4/CDK6 inhibitors could enhance tumor immunogenicity.

Although progress in the coverage of routine measles vaccination in children in low- and middle-income countries was made during 2000–2019, many countries remain far from the goal of 80% coverage in all districts by 2019.

Understanding the molecular basis of leukaemia predisposition is essential for intervention. The authors here investigate germline genetic leukaemia predisposition by studying Shwachman-Diamond syndrome and report compensatory inactivating mutations in EIF6 and transforming biallelic TP53 alterations.

Gut microbes influence our health and may contribute to human adaptation to different lifestyles. Here, the authors describe the gut microbiome of a community of hunter-gatherers and identify unique features that could be linked to a foraging lifestyle.

Dysregulation of intracellular calcium is reported in Alzheimer’s disease. Here the authors show that loss of the mitochondrial Na⁺ /Ca²⁺ exchanger, NCLX – primary route of mitochondrial calcium efflux, precedes neuronal pathology in experimental models and contributes to Alzheimer’s disease progression.