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A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

The xylosyltransferase isoenzymes XT1 and XT2 catalyze the first glycosylation step in the biosynthesis of proteoglycans. Now, bump-and-hole engineering of XT1 and XT2 enables substrate profiling and modification of proteins as designer proteoglycans to modulate cellular behavior.

A van der Waals heterostructure made from atomic layers of ferroelectric CuCrP₂S₆ and ferromagnetic Fe₃GeTe₂ can offer reversible, non-volatile ferroelectric control of two-dimensional magnetism.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death worldwide. Here, the authors show that defective vascular smooth muscle cell tafazzin promotes mitochondrial dysfunction and atherosclerosis, highlighting tafazzin as a potential therapeutic target.

DNA origami enables precise nanoscale self-assembly. Authors here show how programmable control of interactions and binding angles yields curved surfaces of diverse geometries, broadening the design space for synthetic nanostructures.

Blanc et al. uncover how chronic inflammation triggers an epigenetic switch in aged muscle stem cells, leading to iron accumulation and cell death by ferroptosis—offering insights into muscle aging and potential paths for regenerative therapies.

Mesocosm experiments revealed that both phytoplankton community composition and cellular acclimation influence marine particulate C:N:P ratios, with community shifts more sensitive to nitrogen supply and acclimation to the nutrient N:P supply ratio

A 1,024-channel microelectrode array is delivered to the brain cortex via a minimally invasive incision in the skull and dura, and allows recording, stimulation and neural decoding across large portions of the brain in porcine models and human neurosurgical patients.

Early-life stress has lifelong impacts on neuronal function and behavior. Here, the authors show that astrocytic glucocorticoid receptor signaling drives stress-induced neuronal and behavioral change in a sex-specific manner in mice.

COVID-19 can be associated with neurological complications. Here the authors show that markers of brain injury, but not immune markers, are elevated in the blood of patients with COVID-19 both early and months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in those with brain dysfunction or neurological diagnoses.

Twin and adoption studies suggest that 30 to 60% of the variance in many personality traits is due to inherited factors. However, there is little knowledge of the number or identity of the responsible genes, how they differ between individuals, or how their gene products interact with the developing brain and with environmental and experiential factors to generate the complex blend of attitudes and actions that comprise human temperament¹. In the accompanying paper, Ebstein et al.² have found a population association between a long allele of polymorphic exon III repeat sequence of the D4 dopamine receptor gene (DADR) and the normal personality trait of Novelty Seeking. The possibility of a causal relationship between DADR and Novelty Seeking is further supported by studies showing that the number of exon III repeats can affect the binding of ligands to the receptor^3,4; that DADR is expressed in lim-bic areas involved in cognition and emotion^5,6; that dopamine mediates exploratory behaviour in experimental animals^7–12; that the rewarding effects of amphetamines and cocaine are related to dopamine release¹³; and that Novelty Seeking is low in dopamine-deficient patients with Parkinson's disease¹⁴. We investigated the relationship between DADR exon III sequence variants and personality test scores in a population of 315 mostly male siblings, other family members and individuals from the United States. The association between long alleles of exon III and personality traits related to Novelty Seeking was confirmed. Moreover, family studies showed that this association is the result of genetic transmission rather than of population stratification.

An improved, fully re-annotated Aedes aegypti genome assembly (AaegL5) provides insights into the sex-determining M locus, chemosensory systems that help mosquitoes to hunt humans and loci involved in insecticide resistance and will help to generate intervention strategies to fight this deadly disease vector.

The authors investigate epifaunal tiering and ecological succession within the oldest preserved animal communities, those of the Ediacaran Avalon assemblage (574–560 Ma), identifying four community types that form irrespective of succession and finding that tiering is prevalent in three community types.

Openshaw and colleagues find myeloid inflammation and complement activation signatures in patients with long COVID who were previously hospitalized.

CREBBP mutations in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) are linked to poor prognosis and chemoresistance. Here, the authors show that genetic or pharmacological inactivation of CREBBP sensitizes B-ALL cells to the BCL2 inhibitor Venetoclax, inducing ferroptotic cell death and extending survival in B-ALL preclinical mouse models.

A remora-inspired mechanical underwater adhesive device adheres securely to a range of soft substrates and maintains performance under extreme pH and moisture conditions, with potential applications in biosensing and drug delivery.

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.

Analysis of the transcriptional regulatory networks in the kidney of desert-adapted animals further supports a role for cholesterol during chronic dehydration and reveals new candidate genes that may play a role when water is scarce.

A genome-wide association study of critically ill patients with COVID-19 identifies genetic signals that relate to important host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage that may be targeted by repurposing drug treatments.

Sequencing data from two large-scale studies show that most of the genetic variation influencing the risk of type 2 diabetes involves common alleles and is found in regions previously identified by genome-wide association studies, clarifying the genetic architecture of this disease.

Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern were detected early and multiple cases of virus spread not captured by clinical genomic surveillance were identified using high-resolution wastewater and clinical sequencing.

The authors defined a roadmap for investigating the genetic covariance between structural or functional brain phenotypes and risk for psychiatric disorders. Their proof-of-concept study using the largest available common variant data sets for schizophrenia and volumes of several (mainly subcortical) brain structures did not find evidence of genetic overlap.

Necroptosis is a regulated form of inflammatory cell death driven by activated MLKL. Here, the authors identify a mutation in the brace region that confers constitutive activation, leading to lethal inflammation in homozygous mutant mice and providing insight into human mutations in this region.

The authors present a multicenter database to investigate the neural correlates of dreaming, including physiological, behavioral and experiential data. This database could boost the research on the mechanisms of dreaming in humans and the signatures of consciousness.

Solvent dynamics are an often overlooked component in enzymatic activity. Terahertz spectroscopy, X-ray absorption analysis and molecular dynamics simulations show that solvent movement is tightly correlated with formation of a productive enzyme–substrate complex, but not an enzyme–inhibitor complex, in a metalloprotease, indicating that solvent motions may assist catalysis.

Reduced BMP receptor II signalling underlies pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Here, Hurstet al. show that TNFα subverts BMP signalling by increasing BMP6 expression and signalling via an alternative BMP receptor, ALK2, in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells to drive abnormal proliferation and PAH.

The role of IgG glycosylation in the immune response has been studied, but less is known about IgM glycosylation. Here the authors characterize glycosylation of SARS-CoV-2 spike specific IgM and show that it correlates with COVID-19 severity and affects complement deposition.

Durable agonism of NPR1 achieved with a novel investigational monoclonal antibody could mirror the positive hemodynamic changes in blood pressure and heart failure identified in humans with lifelong exposure to NPR1 coding variants.

Elezaby et al. show that cardiac troponin I interacts with mitochondrial ATP synthase to increase ATPase activity. Disrupting this interaction reduces cardiac damage following transient ischemia.

Van Haute et al describe autosomal recessive TEFM variants that impair mitochondrial transcription elongation and reduce the levels of promoter distal mitochondrial RNA transcripts, leading to heterogeneous mitochondrial diseases with a treatable neuromuscular transmission defect.

A genome-wide association study including over 76,000 individuals with schizophrenia and over 243,000 control individuals identifies common variant associations at 287 genomic loci, and further fine-mapping analyses highlight the importance of genes involved in synaptic processes.

In this randomized, controlled integrated phase 1/2/3a/3b clinical trial, the authors show that the self-amplifying mRNA COVID-19 vaccine ARCT-154 shows good immunogenicity and is safe and efficient against COVID-19 (57% against any COVID-19, and 95% against severe COVID-19).

Most individuals with primary familial brain calcification (PFBC) remain genetically unsolved. Here the authors show that NAA60 biallelic variants cause PFBC, likely via reduced N-terminal acetylation and SLC20A2 levels with impaired phosphate uptake.

A DNA sequencing method with single-molecule fidelity detects mismatches and damage present in only one of the two DNA strands with patterns that are both similar and distinct compared to known mutation patterns.

An investigation using various methods reports an association between adeno-associated virus 2 and paediatric hepatitis of unknown aetiology.

Data collected from more than 2,000 taxa provide an unparalleled opportunity to quantify how extreme wildfires affect biodiversity, revealing that the largest effects on plants and animals were in areas with frequent or recent past fires and within extensively burnt areas.

Stratified medicine promises to tailor treatment for individual patients, however it remains a major challenge to leverage genetic risk data to aid patient stratification. Here the authors introduce an approach to stratify individuals based on the aggregated impact of their genetic risk factor profiles on tissue-specific gene expression levels, and highlight its ability to identify biologically meaningful and clinically actionable patient subgroups, supporting the notion of different patient ‘biotypes’ characterized by partially distinct disease mechanisms.

T cell responses can be generated to either pathogen infection or from priming with a vaccine. Here the authors compare T cell generation, phenotype and single cell transcriptome of participants vaccinated with a mpox vaccine or infected with the virus showing that the virus induced T cells showed more effective function and phenotype.

Exposure to volatile chemical products happens during or in the vicinity of product use and through ambient air; the latter pathway is neglected in exposure estimates. This study shows that both pathways should be considered in efforts to develop safer and more sustainable products and to achieve cleaner air.