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Lianas are an important component of tropical forests. Here the authors compare liana and tree functional trait distributions from across the tropics and use a liana-tree competition model to show that a key hydraulic trait influences liana viability and its response to future climate conditions.

Heart rate variability (HRV) describes the individual variation in cardiac cycle duration and is a measure of vagal control of heart rate. Here, the authors identify seventeen single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with HRV, lending new insight into the vagal regulation of heart rhythm.

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data across 2,658 tumors spanning 38 cancer types shows that chromothripsis is pervasive, with a frequency of more than 50% in several cancer types, contributing to oncogene amplification, gene inactivation and cancer genome evolution.

Analysis of mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) by using whole-genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancer samples across 38 cancer types identifies hypermutated mtDNA cases, frequent somatic nuclear transfer of mtDNA and high variability of mtDNA copy number in many cancers.

Transancestral GWAS meta-analysis in 160,420 individuals identifies 139 loci associated with refractive error, including myopia. Newly identified genes implicate pathways involved in eye growth and light signaling cascades.

Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is involved in the inhibition of antigen specific T cells via ligation of programmed death 1 (PD-1). Here, the authors show checkpoint inhibition by use of small molecule inhibition of PD-L1 which in a humanised mouse model was shown to restore T cell responses and reduced tumour burden.

Under conditions of Earth’s deep lower mantle, hydrogen ions diffuse freely through the FeOOH lattice framework and electrical conductivity increases rapidly, according to electrical conductivity experiments and first-principles simulations.

Mathieson et al. carried out a genome-wide association study of reproductive success (number of children born) in humans, revealing the importance of diverse neuro-endocrine and behavioural factors.

Adducts of dimethyl sulfoxide and hydrobromic acid demonstrate efficient p-doping of various organic semiconductors and compatibility with other counterions used to improve stability and other performance parameters of organic-based optoelectronic devices.

Current ultrasound transducers are bulky and rigid. Here, the authors describe a new way to realize large-area and mechanically flexible ultrasound arrays on polymer foils suited for wearable ultrasound applications

The post-transcriptional addition of uridyl ribonucleotides by terminal uridyltransferases (TUTases) to the ′A ends of various cytoplasmic RNAs, including microRNAs, has been implicated in regulating their stability, biogenesis or activity. The crystal structure of Schizosaccharomyces pombe TUTase Cid1 in its apo form and bound to UTP provides insight into the enzyme's active site, UTP selectivity and RNA-binding mechanism.

Erik Ingelsson and colleagues report a large-scale genome-wide meta-analysis for associations to the extremes of anthropometric traits, including body mass index, height, waist-to-hip ratio and clinical obesity. They identify four loci newly associated with height and seven loci newly associated with clinical obesity and find overlap in the genetic structure and distribution of variants identified for these extremes of the trait distributions and for the general population.

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.

Christopher Newton-Cheh and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for blood pressure traits as part of the Global BPgen consortium. They report eight loci with replicated association to systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure, with each also showing association to hypertension.

During archaeal cell division, proteins containing photosynthetic reaction centre domains enable the formation of a defined cell division plane by direct interaction with SepF.

Analysis of peatland carbon accumulation over the last millennium and its association with global-scale climate space indicates an ongoing carbon sink into the future, but with decreasing strength as conditions warm.

Bacterial cell shape is dependent on the formation of the extracellular sugar polymer called peptidoglycan. Here the authors describe RodA-PBP2, the enzymatic core of the elongasome, which is the complex responsible peptidoglycan synthesis, and utilize an integrated approach to investigate the mechanism of peptidoglycan biosynthesis.

A discovery pipeline integrating time-resolved HT-SAXS and fragment screening identifies chemical leads targeting exemplary allosteric states of mitochondrial oxidoreductase apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF).

The reactivity of small molecule gases at high pressure has implications for astrochemistry. Here helium is shown in silico to form stable compounds with water and ammonia at gigapascal pressures.

BldC regulates the onset of differentiation in Streptomycetes by a yet unknown molecular mechanism. Using a combination of structural, biochemical and in vivo approaches, the authors show that BldC controls the transcription of several developmental regulators and unravel its DNA binding mode.

How bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) regulate haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) later in development is unclear. Crisan et al.show that long-term repopulating HSCs in murine fetal liver and the bone marrow are of two types: either BMP activated or non-BMP activated, which correlate with different lineage outputs.

The presence of excitonic instability and its relationship with a structural transition in Ta₂NiSe₅ has been debated. Chen et al. map out the electronic bands and lattice distortion across the semimetal-to-semiconductor transition with sulfur doping, revealing the crucial role of electron-phonon coupling.

Modelling of the evolution of atmospheric methane emissions from the 2022 Nord Stream subsea pipeline leaks shows that the event emitted the largest recorded amount of methane from a single transient event.

A study identifies a new bacterial ribosome hibernation factor, Balon, and describes its association with EF-Tu and its initiation of mRNA-independent hibernation during protein synthesis.

An analysis of 16 health-related quantitative traits in approximately 350,000 individuals reveals statistically significant associations between genome-wide homozygosity and four complex traits (height, lung function, cognitive ability and educational attainment); in each case increased homozygosity associates with a decreased trait value, but no evidence was seen of an influence on blood pressure, cholesterol, or ten other cardio-metabolic traits.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in more than 66,000 individuals identifies 68 new genomic loci that reliably associate with platelet count and volume, and reveals new gene functions.

Analysis of live-cell imaging and single-cell genome sequencing data of colorectal cancer organoids identifies temporal dynamics of sub-chromosomal copy-number amplifications.

Using a Bayesian approach with neural networks the authors model the demographic history of gorillas, finding admixture from an archaic ‘ghost’ lineage into the common ancestor of eastern gorillas, but not western gorillas.

Costs of achieving climate targets are uncertain. A metamodel estimates the median costs of limiting warming to 2 °C and 1.5 °C to be US$15 trillion and US$30 trillion. Uncertainty in emissions reductions costs dominates at these levels; climate system uncertainty dominates at higher warming levels.

Nilesh Samani and colleagues report a genome-wide association study that identifies variants near the TERC locus associated to variance in mean telomere length.

The representation of space in mouse visual cortex was considered to be relatively uniform. The authors show that mice have improved visual resolution in a cortical region representing a location in space directly in front and slightly above them, showing that the representation of space in mouse visual cortex is non-uniform.

This Perspective reviews tools developed over the past five years in the macromolecular modeling, docking and design software Rosetta.

Patricia Munroe, Joanna Howson and colleagues genotype ∼350,000 individuals and identify 30 new blood pressure– or hypertension-associated risk loci. Their analyses provide insights into the pathophysiology of hypertension and highlight new potential targets for clinical intervention.

Sven van der Lee, Julie Williams, Gerard Schellenberg and colleagues identify rare coding variants in PLCG2, ABI3 and TREM2 associated with Alzheimer's disease. These genes are highly expressed in microglia and provide additional evidence that the microglia-mediated immune response contributes to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

Das et al. have performed strain analysis of a specific female pelvic floor muscle called the puborectalis muscle from 3D ultrasound volumes, before and after pessary treatment. The effect of pessary treatment has been shown to be quantifiable through the strain ratio, which corresponded with the patient-reported outcome measures from these women.

Different self-healing materials were developed in the past but development of mechanically robust and affordable self-healing materials with high strain and stiffness is challenging. Here the authors develop mechanically robust thermoplastic polyurethane fibers and films capable of autonomous self-healing under ambient conditions.

The ability to stabilise colloidal suspensions in solution against salt-induced aggregation is critical to many industrial applications, but it remains challenging at high salt concentration. To overcome this problem, Lan et al. introduce a raspberry-like colloidal particle with controllable morphology.

Assembled helical maquettes have been used to mimic basic oxidoreductase activities, but the requisite design symmetry limited advanced functions. Construction of a single-chain protein now enables intra- and interprotein electron transfer and complex cofactor interactions at rates comparable to those of natural proteins.

New research by social scientists is presenting a clearer picture of the factors that influence the public perception of nanotechnology and, as Chris Toumey reports, the results present challenges for those working to increase public acceptance of nanoscience and technology. See focus on public perceptions of nanotechnology.

The genome of Kuenenia stuttgartiensis has been sequenced to learn more about anaerobic ammonium oxidation.

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.

Mixed responses to targeted therapy within a patient are a clinical challenge. Here the authors show that TP53 loss-of-function cooperates with whole genome doubling which increases chromosomal instability. This leads to greater cellular diversity and multiple routes of resistance, which in turn promotes mixed responses to treatment.

In a re-analysis of a cluster-randomized trial on malaria-control measures, the combined intervention reduces infections up to 3 km from the point of intervention, increasing efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the intervention.