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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.

A deep learning algorithm using electronic health records from two large cohorts of patients predicts the risk of pancreatic cancer from pre-cancer disease trajectories up to 3 years in advance, showing promising performance in retrospective validation.

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.

Structural and biochemical studies of the Mycobacterium smegmatis hydrogenase Huc provides insights into how [NiFe] hydrogenases oxidize trace amounts of atmospheric hydrogen and transfer the electrons liberated via quinone transport.

The contribution of metal exposure to the etiology of ASD is unclear. Here the authors tested whether elemental dysregulation contributes to ASD risk by analysing tooth metal biomarkers from ASD discordant twins, and found significant differences in metal uptake between ASD cases and their control twin siblings, but only during certain developmental periods.

The genome of a western lowland gorilla has been sequenced and analysed, completing the genome sequences of all great ape genera, and providing evidence for parallel accelerated evolution in chimpanzee, gorilla and human lineages at a number of loci.

An analysis of the impact of logging intensity on biodiversity in tropical forests in Sabah, Malaysia, identifies a threshold of tree biomass removal below which logged forests still have conservation value.

Two programs, GRAPE and GARLIC, work together to first predict biosynthetic gene clusters responsible for the production of polyketides and nonribosomal peptides, then link sequenced gene clusters to known and unknown natural products.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide analyses identify 95 loci associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and implicate candidate genes, pathways and neurobiological systems underlying its pathophysiology.

A new phylogenomic tree for butterflies is constructed using 391 genes from 2,300 species, representing 92% of genera. It suggests that butterflies originated around 100 million years ago in what is now the Americas and originally fed on Fabaceae.

Bergmann’s Rule predicts larger body sizes in colder climates. Here, the authors examine extinct and extant dinosaurs (birds) and mammaliaforms, finding no evidence of body size variation with latitude in any group, but a small variation with temperature in extant birds.

A phase 2 randomized controlled trial of ustekinumab in 72 adolescents with recent-onset type 1 diabetes showed that treatment was well tolerated and β-cell function was 49% higher in the intervention group compared to the placebo arm after 12 months.

An analysis of 52 million births in 26 countries shows small reductions in preterm birth during the first to third months of lockdown. Further research is needed to examine causal pathways.

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.

Climate change and land use change may have independent or interactive effects on species’ distributions. Here, the authors show that changes in bird, lepidopteran and plant ranges across Great Britain are often explained by individual or additive effects of land conversion and temperature change.

Study shows PTSD predisposition shares distinct genes and genomic regions with several cardiovascular conditions. Here the findings reveal neuronal, immune, and metabolic pathways, and repurposed drug targets that further the understanding of the comorbidity.

A diverse, multidisciplinary panel of 386 experts in COVID-19 response from 112 countries provides health and social policy actions to address inadequacies in the pandemic response and help to bring this public health threat to an end.

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.

Populations of many migratory taxa have been declining over recent decades. This study examines how well protected areas in Europe cover the dynamic distributions of migratory birds throughout their annual cycles and finds that many species are inadequately protected, especially farmland birds, and that higher protected area coverage correlates with more positive long-term population trends.

A NutNet experiment in 57 grasslands across six continents shows that when herbivores are excluded from grasslands with a long coevolutionary history of grazing plant diversity is reduced, while in grasslands without a long grazing history the evolutionary history of the plant species regulates the response of plant diversity.

A modelling analysis shows that an unusually long gamma-ray burst gave rise to a lanthanide-rich kilonova following the merger of a neutron star–neutron star or of a neutron star–black hole.

Changes in ocean heat content over the industrial era are investigated from a range of observations. Using this data as input to climate models shows that nearly half of the increase occurred in recent decades, and more than a third occurs below 700 m.

Observations of a luminous quasar from the high-resolution spectrometer Resolve aboard XRISM revealed highly inhomogeneous wind structure outflowing from a supermassive black hole, which probably consists of up to a million clumps.

A description is given of the ENCODE effort to provide a complete catalogue of primary and processed RNAs found either in specific subcellular compartments or throughout the cell, revealing that three-quarters of the human genome can be transcribed, and providing a wealth of information on the range and levels of expression, localization, processing fates and modifications of known and previously unannotated RNAs.

A global dataset of the satellite-tracked movements of pelagic sharks and fishing fleets show that sharks—and, in particular, commercially important species—have limited spatial refuge from fishing effort.

Ground truthed thermal data from a new NASA satellite combined with experimental warming data from three continents in an empirical model suggests that tropical forests are closer to a high temperature threshold than previously thought.

As phase 1 of the Earth Microbiome Project, analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA sequences from more than 27,000 environmental samples delivers a global picture of the basic structure and drivers of microbial distribution.

Mountain snowpack in the western United States has declined over the past three decades. Fyfeet al. show that this trend cannot be explained by natural variability alone and show that under a business-as-usual scenario a further loss of up to 60% in mountain snowpack is projected in the coming three decades.

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.

Altering cellular responses to double-strand breaks in DNA could rebalance CRISPRediting outcomes. Here, the authors use a pooled CRISPR screen to identify inhibition of CDC7 as a strategy to improve HDR outcomes.

A retrobiosynthetic algorithm that relates known antibiotics by the similarities of their biosynthetic pathways to cluster them into distinct classes. Focusing on the telomycins helps to define the mechanism of action of this antibiotic class.

Laboratory earthquake experiments reproduce delayed earthquake triggering, similar to aftershocks, as a result of propagating slow slip fronts. The speed of the fronts can be highly sensitive to fault stress levels left behind by previous earthquakes.

Chlorine radicals function as a strong atmospheric oxidant, particularly in polar regions, where levels of hydroxyl radicals are low. Measurements in the Arctic reveal high levels of molecular chlorine during the day, consistent with a photochemical source.

Without mitigation, relative sea-level rises under current climate change projections will exceed the capacity of coastal habitats such as mangroves and tidal marshes to adjust, leading to instability and profound changes to coastal ecosystems.

The Southern Ocean is critically important for global climate yet poorly represented by climate models. Here the authors trace sea surface temperature biases in this region to cloud-related errors in atmospheric-model simulated surface heat fluxes and provide a pathway to improve the models.

A US national experiment showed that a short, online, self-administered growth mindset intervention can increase adolescents’ grades and advanced course-taking, and identified the types of school that were poised to benefit the most.

In situ and computational methods are used to investigate the nature of the dense liquid phase of calcium carbonate and its transformation to the amorphous phase that is common in biomineralization processes.

Expression of TEM β-lactamase is a predominant mechanism underlying antibiotic resistance in pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria. Here, the authors use Markov state models to reveal and experimentally confirm hidden conformations that determine TEM substrate specificity.

X-ray spectroscopic observations of the Centaurus galaxy cluster with the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission satellite show that the hot gas flows along the line of sight relative to the central galaxy.

We propose a model for a sequential, multistep activation mechanism of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5, including a series of structures in lipid nanodiscs, from inactive to fully active, with agonist-bound intermediate states.