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The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

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.

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.

Brain neural stem cell (NSC) and vessel-forming endothelial cell (EC) communication is vital. Here, the authors find that human ECs boost human adult NSCs (type B cells) via Notch, show EC-type B interaction in human brain, and identify human type B markers.

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.

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.

High-resolution subnational mapping of child growth failure indicators for 105 low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017 shows that, despite considerable progress, substantial geographical inequalities still exist in some countries.

Population mobility is associated with SARS-CoV-2 transmission but its impacts on other respiratory viruses are not well understood. Here, the authors investigate associations between mobile phone-derived mobility metrics and the dynamics of 18 respiratory viruses in Seattle, Washington from 2018 to 2022.

It is unclear why different antibiotics vary in their ability to shorten treatment of tuberculosis. Here, the authors show that a measure based on ribosomal RNA synthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis correlates with treatment shortening in culture, in mice and in human studies.

Antivirals are now available for treating COVID-19 but must be used early in the course of infection to be effective. Here, the authors use mathematical modelling to assess the potential public health impacts of antiviral use considering different levels of testing and country sociodemographic characteristics.

Contrary to the view that urbanization is a major driver of the global rise in obesity, the global increase in body-mass index is shown to be mostly due to increases in the body-mass indexes of rural populations.

The PATAT model is used to simulate SARS-CoV-2 epidemics in low- and middle-income countries, finding that diagnostic testing rates and proportions of viruses sequenced underpin timely and accurate novel variant virus detection.

An integrated analysis of de novo and inherited coding variants in 42,607 individuals with autism spectrum disorder identifies 60 risk genes of which five have not previously been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Glioblastoma can be classified based on IDH and TERT promoter mutations, but ~20% of glioblastoma do not have these mutations (TERTp^WT-IDH^WT glioblastoma). Here, the authors present a genetic landscape of TERTp^WT-IDH^WT glioblastoma, identifying a telomerase-positive subgroup driven by TERT-structural rearrangements and an ALT-positive subgroup with mutations in ATRX or SMARCAL1.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a known cause of cervical cancer. Here, the authors perform a multi-omic analysis using published cervical squamous cell carcinoma cohorts from the USA, Europe, and SubSaharan Africa and identify two cervical squamous cell carcinoma subtypes that display prognostic differences.

The development of asthma following eczema is known as the atopic march. Here the authors conduct a GWAS on affected children and identify two novel loci associated with the disease phenotype.

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.

The genome of the gibbon, a tree-dwelling ape from Asia positioned between Old World monkeys and the great apes, is presented, providing insights into the evolutionary history of gibbon species and their accelerated karyotypes, as well as evidence for selection of genes such as those for forelimb development and connective tissue that may be important for locomotion through trees.

In this DREAM challenge, 75 methods for the identification of disease-relevant modules from molecular networks are compared and validated with GWAS data. The authors provide practical guidelines for users and establish benchmarks for network analysis.

Kim Worley and colleagues report the whole-genome sequence of the common marmoset, Callithrix jacchus, the first New World monkey to be sequenced.

Despite the vast amount of research on schizophrenia and depression in the past two decades, there have been few innovative drugs to treat these disorders. Precompetitive research collaborations between companies and academic groups can help tackle this innovation deficit, as illustrated by the achievements of the IMI-NEWMEDS consortium.

Large-scale tree planting programmes have been implemented or planned for areas around the world suffering from deforestation, but this study presents evidence that such efforts may not necessarily deliver the desired environmental and economic outcomes.

Analysis of changes in functional groups of species and potential drivers of environmental change for protected areas across the world’s major tropical regions reveals large variation between reserves that have been effective and those experiencing an erosion of biodiversity, and shows that environmental changes immediately outside reserves are nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate.

The feasibility of large-scale testing with lateral flow tests has been demonstrated in the COVID-19 pandemic. This Review examines lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to inform the design and bioengineering of next-generation lateral flow tests to strengthen future diagnostic resilience.

IACUC professionals depend on conferences and webinars as a primary source of regulatory information; what happens if they walk away with different interpretations of the regulations? We invited experts from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Jillian Hash and Denise Ancharski-Stutler) and University of Pennsylvania (Joanna Fried and Ines Rodriguez), along with USDA representative Louis DiVincenti, to respond to a scenario about the regulatory requirements for seminannual inspections.

The International Childhood Cancer Outcome Project group, involving survivors and other relevant stakeholders, develop a set of core outcomes to measure the quality of care for 17 types of childhood cancers.

The Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP) presents its production phase: the generation of spatial maps of functional tissue units across organs from diverse populations and the creation of tools and infrastructure to advance biomedical research.

Ellefsen et al. monitor Piezo-dependent Calcium signals in live cells by TIRF and super-resolution microscopy and find that Ca²⁺ flickers localize to areas of high traction force. They show that Myosin II activity and MLCK are needed for the generation of Piezo Ca²⁺ signals and that Piezo1 channels are mobile in the plasma membrane.

Todd Robeck and Zhe Fei et al. use DNA methylation profiling to develop an epigenetic clock to measure age in odontocete species, including toothed whales and dolphins. The clocks were highly accurate and represent a valuable tool to help in wildlife conservation efforts.

Mohammadi et al. show that the transplantation of pancreatic islets within mesenchymal-stem cell (MSC) exosome-loaded hybrid alginate microcapsules in diabetic mice lead to diminished immune-based foreign body response and hyperglycemia control. This is due to immunomodulatory behavior of MSC exosomes at the engraftment site where they exert local immunosuppressive effects.