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Genome sequencing of nine individuals shows ancestry shifts in the Neolithization of northwestern Africa that probably mirrored a heterogeneous economic and cultural landscape in a more multifaceted process than observed in other regions.

Analysis of the eukaryotic gene repertoires mediating central carbon metabolism identifies ancestral contributions from Alphaproteobacteria, Asgardarchaeota and other microbial taxa, followed by gene loss, transfer and subcellular retargeting, which have remodelled central carbon metabolism over time.

Gene regulatory network architecture and complex dosage effects from paralogue diversification converge to shape phenotypic space, producing the potential for both strongly buffered phenotypes and sudden bursts of phenotypic change.

Rodin and Dou et al. characterized genome-wide somatic mutation in autistic and control brains, revealing that even unaffected individuals may possess dozens of brain somatic mutations and providing insight into the role of somatic mutation in autism.

ETS2—which is associated with inflammatory bowel disease, ankylosing spondylitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and Takayasu’s arteritis—is a central regulator of human inflammatory macrophages.

Structures of the human calcium-sensing receptor can be bound into complex with G proteins from three different Gα subtypes while maintaining G-protein-binding specificity.

Historical interbreeding between Neanderthals and humans should leave signatures of historical demographics in modern human genomes. Analysing the size distribution of Neanderthal fragments in non-African genomes suggests consistent differences in the generation interval across Eurasia, and that this could explain mutational spectrum variation.

Metasurfaces enable precise tailoring of thermal emission properties. Here, the authors present a corrugated waveguide array design that achieves simultaneous control of polarization and coherence, with record-high temporal, spatial, and spin coherence maintained across broad emission angles.

Symmetry considerations can give rise to various Hall effects in solid-state platforms. Here, the authors predict a half-quantized mirror Hall effect in a strong topological insulator.

Silane, which is a precursor to the sandy surfaces of rocky planets and dusty clouds on gas giants, is seen directly in another world—a low-metallicity brown dwarf in which oxidation is slow and gas mixing is fast.

In analogy with quantum Hall systems, it may be possible to find non-abelian anyons in the higher bands of Chern insulators. Now, the phase diagram of the second moiré band of twisted MoTe₂ is explored, laying the groundwork for such investigations.

For most ancient genomes, low sequencing depth restricts genotyping, limiting their study. Here, the authors test imputation performance of ancient human genomes by estimating error rates and potential bias introduced in downstream analyses.

Managing power exhaust in fusion reactors is a key challenge, especially in compact designs for cost-effective commercial energy. This study shows how alternative divertor configurations improve exhaust control, enhance stability, absorb transients and enable independent plasma regulation.

Black phosphorus is an allotrope of phosphorous that, like graphite, can be exfoliated to create two-dimensional materials. Here, the authors use Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations to investigate the anomalous behaviour of phonons near different black phosphorus edges.

In the layered magnetic semiconductor CrSBr, emergent light–matter hybrids (polaritons) increase the spectral bandwidth of correlations between the magnetic, electronic and optical properties, enabling largely tunable optical responses to applied magnetic fields and magnons.

A bulky residue in the stem domain of the influenza virus H2 hemagglutinin appears pivotal in eliciting broadly cross-reactive antibodies capable of recognizing diverse group 1 influenza subtypes and is informative for universal influenza vaccine development.

This study presents a framework to evaluate rare and de novo variation from whole-genome sequencing (WGS). The work suggests that robust results from WGS studies will require large cohorts and strategies that consider the substantial multiple-testing burden.

Strong electron–electron interactions in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene can fundamentally change the topology of the system’s flat bands, producing a hierarchy of strongly correlated topological insulators in modest magnetic fields.

Analysis of data on six stable crops, capturing two-thirds of global crop calories, allows estimation of agricultural impacts and the potential of global producer adaptations to reduce output losses owing to climate change.

Exome sequencing on a large cohort of parent–child trios with sporadic autism spectrum disorders shows that de novo point mutations are mainly paternal in origin and positively correlate with paternal age, and identifies a highly interconnected network formed from the products of the most severe mutations.

Familial Mediterranean fever is an autoinflammatory disease caused by gain-of-function mutations in the pyrin inflammasome. Kastner and colleagues show that mutant pyrin better resists suppression by the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis and may have been positively selected in human Middle Eastern populations.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

The rapid rise in brightness of a tidal disruption event is attributed to the destruction of a main sequence star by a black hole of intermediate mass in a dwarf galaxy. Such events are rare, and non-accreting intermediate-mass black holes are challenging to find.

Analysis of HbA1c and FPG levels across 117 population-based studies demonstrates regional variation in prevalence of previously undiagnosed screen-detected diabetes using one or both measures and suggests that use of elevated FPG alone could underestimate diabetes prevalence in low- and middle-income countries.

Vein of Galen malformations (VOGMs) are severe congenital brain arteriovenous malformations. Here the authors work to elucidate the pathogenesis of VOGMs by performing an integrated analysis of 310 VOGM proband family exomes and 336,326 human cerebrovasculature single-cell transcriptomes to identify mutations of key signaling regulators.

The link between neural development and tumourigenesis in adult glioma remains unclear. Here, the authors monitor the developmental stages of Sox2 + /− stem cells from a mouse model using single-cell RNA sequencing and suggest the acquisition of embryonic-like states in the adult glioma development.

Noel et al. show aberrant updating of expectations in three distinct mouse models of autism spectrum disorder. Brain-wide neurophysiology data suggest this stems from excess units encoding deviations from prior mean and a lack of sensory prediction errors in frontal areas.

The neuron-specific RNA binding protein NOVA1 has a single amino acid substitution unique to modern humans. Here, the authors characterize the evolutional specificity and the function of the substitution. Studies using humanized NOVA1 mice reveal its specific effects on splicing and vocalization.

Human pan-genomics are increasing our knowledge of genomic diversity and genetic factors in disease. Here, the authors built a gastric cancer pan-genome that included the sequences of Chinese Han patients, and predicted putative and previously unaligned genes associated with gastric cancer.

A multilevel pattern-learning framework investigates the effects of genome-wide protein-coding mutations on brain organization and behaviour in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development cohort.

We develop a high-throughput CRISPR screening system in cerebral organoids and identify vulnerable cell types and gene regulatory networks associated with autism spectrum disorder from single-cell transcriptomes and chromatin modalities.

Interfaces between topologically distinct phases reveal rich phenomenology. Here, Crépel et al. present a microscopic study on the low energy physics, interface gapless mode, identification of spin and charge excitations, etc. of the Halperin–Laughlin interface using recently proposed model wavefunctions.

Here, the authors show that Intracortical recordings in human motor cortex during attempted multi-finger movements reveal a largely linear code with two violations: magnitude normalization and greater shifts in tuning direction for weakly represented fingers.

The fossil taxon Propotto was originally identified as a primate, but is currently widely interpreted as a bat. Here, the authors identify Propotto as a stem chiromyiform lemur and, based on phylogenetic analysis, suggest two independent lemur colonizations of Madagascar.

Our basic understanding of neuromodulation in the claustrum remains limited. Here Madden et al., identify a key mechanism by which serotonin and the psychedelic psilocybin modulate cortical signalling through the claustrum, a brain region involved in regulating cognition and brain network states.

Researchers demonstrate that image-processing metasurfaces can be dynamically reconfigured by using phase-change materials. The work might lead to novel tunable devices for compact optical computing for applications in AR/VR and bio-medical imaging.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

The choroid plexus (ChP) provides molecular cues for brain development. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. This study identifies an apocrine secretion mechanism in the ChP that modulates the CSF protein composition and instructs cortical development.

An improved structure of the TRPV3 pentamer, together with molecular dynamics simulations, provides insights into its conformation, subunit interfaces, permeability to large cations, and the mechanism of transition to the canonical tetrameric state.

The genetic prehistory of central America has not been well explored. Here, the authors find evidence from ancient DNA from twenty individuals who lived in Belize 9,600 to 3,700 years ago of a migration from the south that coincided with the first evidence for forest clearing and the spread of maize horticulture.

Genome-wide analysis of RNA-binding protein (RBP) target sites identifies a major role for RBP dysregulation in complex psychiatric disorders and implicates DDHD2 as a candidate risk gene for schizophrenia.

The SPECULOOS project detected an Earth-sized planet in a short orbit around a nearby Jupiter-sized star. This planet, SPECULOOS-3 b, is one of the most promising rocky exoplanets for detailed emission spectroscopy characterization with JWST.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.