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STAARpipeline is a comprehensive framework for flexible and scalable rare-variant association analysis using whole-genome sequencing data and annotation information.

Polygenic risk scores can help identify individuals at higher risk of type 2 diabetes. Here, the authors characterise a multi-ancestry score across nearly 900,000 people, showing that its predictive value depends on demographic and clinical context and extends to related traits and complications.

Using data from a single time point, passenger-approximated clonal expansion rate (PACER) estimates the fitness of common driver mutations that lead to clonal haematopoiesis and identifies TCL1A activation as a mediator of clonal expansion.

Ruth Loos and colleagues report results of a large genome-wide association study for body mass index. They identify 18 new loci associated with this trait, some of which map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance.

A study describes an approach using designed building blocks that are far more regular in geometry than natural proteins to construct modular multicomponent protein assemblies.

Acetylcholine–α9 nAChR signaling regulates thymic negative selection.

BAX and BAK are pro-apoptotic proteins whose activity is essential for the action of many anti-cancer drugs and to suppress tumorigenesis. Here, the authors perform a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen and identify VDAC2 as a promoter of BAX-mediated apoptosis that is important for an efficient chemotherapeutic response and to suppress tumor formation.

Net-zero policies can put pressure on land use, which can conflict with preserving natural landscapes, cultural sites and agricultural areas. Now a study integrates national energy models with proactive and collaborative planning to design net-zero pathways that conserve natural capital and address diverse concerns.

Analysis of colorectal cancer bulk gene expression data at the pathway level identifies a poor-prognosis subtype associated with cell differentiation. The subtypes are reproducible in single-cell data and offer biological insights beyond existing stratification strategies.

Here the authors identify real-space contributions to the characteristics of high-harmonic generation in ReS2 and demonstrate the possibility of laser-controlled emission. They find that the spectrum is not just determined by the band structure, but also by the interference between HHG signals coming from different atoms within the unit cell.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

In an updated report on 70 laboratory-confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5N1 cases in the USA between March 2024 and May 2025, the absence of human-to-human transmission to date was confirmed, with no known mutations of resistance to neuroaminidase inhibitors.

A set of three papers in Nature reports a new proteomics resource from the UK Biobank and initial analysis of common and rare genetic variant associations with plasma protein levels.

Wenzel et al. detect radio signatures of two forms of cyanopyrene, a small molecular sheet of carbon, which can be used as indicators of the abundance of pyrene. Their findings suggest that small polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons must be formed in or transported to the cold interstellar medium.

The GLASS Consortium studies the evolutionary trajectories of 222 patients with a diffuse glioma to aid in our understanding of tumour progression and treatment failure

This study reports a dense, late summer phytoplankton bloom in the Southern Ocean that accumulated unusually high levels of organic matter and supported feeding hot spots for birds and whales. The authors show that this recurring open ocean bloom is driven by anomalies in easterly winds that push sea ice southwards and favour the upwelling of deep waters enriched in hydrothermal iron.

A study of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in England between September 2020 and June 2021 finds that interventions capable of containing previous variants were insufficient to stop the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

Benchmarking of scATAC-seq protocols demonstrates the effects of data quality on downstream analyses.

FlyWire presents a neuronal wiring diagram of the whole fly brain with annotations for cell types, classes, nerves, hemilineages and predicted neurotransmitters, with data products and an open ecosystem to facilitate exploration and browsing.

Raman and fluorescence spectra, consistent with several species of aromatic organic molecules, are reported in the Crater Floor sequences of Jezero crater, Mars, suggesting multiple mechanisms of organic synthesis, transport, or preservation.

Available wheat genomes are annotated by projecting Chinese Spring gene models across the new assemblies. Here, the authors generate de novo gene annotations for the 9 wheat genomes, identify core and dispensable transcriptome, and reveal conservation and divergence of gene expression balance across homoeologous subgenomes.

Tumour evolution and heterogeneity in high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) remains poorly characterised. Here, the authors investigate the genomic landscape of HGSOC and reveal two distinct evolutionary trajectories associated with clinical outcomes.

Results for the final phase of the 1000 Genomes Project are presented including whole-genome sequencing, targeted exome sequencing, and genotyping on high-density SNP arrays for 2,504 individuals across 26 populations, providing a global reference data set to support biomedical genetics.

Quantum computers may help to solve classically intractable problems, such as simulating non-equilibrium dissipative quantum systems. The critical dynamics of a dissipative quantum model has now been probed on a trapped-ion quantum computer.

Post-international travel quarantine has been widely implemented to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but the impacts of such policies are unclear. Here, the authors used linked genomic and contact tracing data to assess the impacts of a 14-day quarantine on return to England in summer 2020.

In this study, Aggarwal and colleagues perform prospective sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolates derived from asymptomatic student screening and symptomatic testing of students and staff at the University of Cambridge. They identify important factors that contributed to within university transmission and onward spread into the wider community.

A study shows that clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential is associated with an increased risk of chronic liver disease specifically through the promotion of liver inflammation and injury.

This paper reports integrative molecular analyses of urothelial bladder carcinoma at the DNA, RNA, and protein levels performed as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas project; recurrent mutations were found in 32 genes, including those involved in cell-cycle regulation, chromatin regulation and kinase signalling pathways; chromatin regulatory genes were more frequently mutated in urothelial carcinoma than in any other common cancer studied so far.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) onsets in COVID-19 patients with manifestations similar to Kawasaki disease (KD). Here the author probe the peripheral blood transcriptome of MIS-C patients to find signatures related to natural killer (NK) cell activation and CD8+ T cell exhaustion that are shared with KD patients.

Follicular lymphoma can transform to a more aggressive histology. Here, the authors use bulk and single cell analysis to create a 26 marker panel which could be used to profile FL samples and predict the risk of transformation using flow cytometry.

Deep clinical phenotyping at 28–60 days post-discharge of patients who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 and subsequent long-term follow-up with electronic health records reveal evidence of persistent cardio-renal involvement.

Perineural invasion and cancer-induced nerve injury of tumour-associated nerves are associated with poor response to anti-PD-1 therapy, which can be reversed by combining anti-PD-1 therapy with anti-inflammatory interventions.

The authors showcase an optical-to-microwave conversion method using an optomechanical waveguide integrated with a piezoelectric transducer. The presented system allows bidirectional optical-to-microwave conversion with a quantum efficiency of up to—54.16 dB.

Bosonic qubits can be engineered to feature intrinsic protection against certain kinds of errors, which makes quantum error correction across many bosonic qubits possible with less overhead.

Cecilia Lindgren and colleagues report results of a large-scale genome-wide association study for waist-to-hip ratio, a measure of body fat distribution. They identify 13 new loci associated with this trait, several of which show stronger effects in women than in men.

The BioDIGS project is a nationwide initiative involving students, researchers and educators across more than 40 research and teaching institutions. Participants lead sample collection, computational analysis and results interpretation to understand the relationships between the soil microbiome, environment and health.

In cohort B of the phase 2 SWOG S1512 trial, pembrolizumab monotherapy in patients with unresectable desmoplastic melanoma elicited a complete response rate of 37% and an objective response rate of 89%, supporting a new treatment option for this tumor type.

Ting and colleagues report the safety and efficacy of combined radiation and immunotherapy in a phase II trial on patients with MSS colorectal or pancreatic cancer and observe that disease control correlates with higher repetitive RNA transcription.

Drug used to treat Helicobacter pylori infection reduces SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in lungs and alleviates virus-associated pneumonia in a golden Syrian hamster model.

Excised signal circles are circular DNA by-products of V(D)J recombination that form a complex with the V(D)J recombinase, and when increased in abundance, result in increased mutagenesis, causing adverse outcomes in cancer.

Vaccination efficiency in HIV infection is hampered by the low immunogenicity of HIV-1 Env glycoprotein (Env). Here authors optimise the neutralising antibody response to Env by stabilizing the Env trimers in the context of expressing them in a Newcastle Disease Virus-like particle and providing conditions that mimics replicating virus infection.

Safely opening university campuses has been a major challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, the authors describe a program of public health measures employed at a university in the United States which, combined with other non-pharmaceutical interventions, allowed the university to stay open in fall 2020 with limited evidence of transmission.

The QT interval is a heritable electrocardiographic measure associated with arrhythmia risk when prolonged. Here, the authors used a series of genetic analyses to identify genetic loci, pathways, therapeutic targets, and relationships with cardiovascular disease.

The molecular mechanisms of resistance to immune checkpoint therapy remain elusive. Here, the authors perform immunogenomic analysis of TCGA data and data from clinical trials for antiPD-1/PD-L1 therapy and highlight the association of 9p21 loss with a cold tumor microenvironment and resistance to therapy.

Experimental measurements of high-order out-of-time-order correlators on a superconducting quantum processor show that these correlators remain highly sensitive to the quantum many-body dynamics in quantum computers at long timescales.

The goals, resources and design of the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) programme are described, and analyses of rare variants detected in the first 53,831 samples provide insights into mutational processes and recent human evolutionary history.