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The Alpha and Iota SARS-CoV-2 variants exhibit up to 50% greater transmissibility compared to other circulating variants in Connecticut in early 2021.

Granadaene, produced by Group B Streptococcus (GBS), is a long polyene lipid involved in cellular toxicity and hemolytic activity. Here, the authors synthesize and characterize granadaene-like compounds and show that a non-toxic analog diminishes GBS infection in mice when incorporated into a vaccine formulation.

Three new red-excitable monomeric fluorescent proteins obtained by structure-guided mutagenesis of mNeptune are described in this work. The authors show the use of one of them, mCardinal, to visualize the differentiation of myoblasts into myocytes in living mice.

The identification of synthetic routes combining enzymatic and non-enzymatic reactions has been challenging and requiring expert knowledge. Here, the authors describe a computational retrosynthetic approach relying on neural network models for planning synthetic routes using both strategies.

Here, Williamson et al. combine epidemiological and genomic analysis of 2,186 Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from Australia and show that men who have sex with men and women are a possible ‘bridging’ population between men who have sex with men and heterosexuals.

In a cohort of 87 individuals with COVID-19, the memory B cell response at 6.2 months after the onset of disease evolves in a manner that is consistent with the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 antigen.

Nuclear reactors can be used for energy generation or for dangerous weapons and therefore their monitoring is crucial. Here the authors discuss detecting antineutrino from a nuclear reactor and use it for nuclear safeguards in a diversion scenario.

Leptomeningeal disease (LMD) is a serious complication of metastatic solid tumors with a poor prognosis. Here, by using single-cell RNA sequencing of cerebrospinal fluid, the authors report genomic and immune correlates of response to immunotherapy in two cohorts of patients with LMD treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Binding-activated optical sensors are powerful tools, but their development can be slow and laborious. Here, authors introduce a platform to expedite biosensor discovery and evolution using genetically encodable fluorogenic amino acids.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) normally act extracellularly. Now Marchant et al. report an unexpected nuclear activity for MMP-12 in virus-infected cells in regulating transcription of the gene encoding IκBα and affecting secretion of interferon-α.

Ternary organic blends using two non-fullerene acceptors are shown to improve the efficiency and stability of low-cost solar cells based on P3HT and of high-performance photovoltaic devices based on low-bandgap donor polymers.

Inteins can act as post-translational environmental sensors in vivo. Here the authors characterize two inteins present in the Mycobacterium smegmatis replicative helicase DnaB that display distinct splicing behaviors and are differentially sensitive to inhibition by biological stressors and propose that splicing inhibition could modulate DnaB levels to protect the cell against replication stress.

External cycling regenerates nitrogen oxides from the NO_x oxidative reservoir, NO_z. Aircraft observations reveal NO_x external cycling compensates for NO_x aging, sustaining NO_x distribution and production of OH radicals far from NO_x emission sources

While there is strong evidence that many mutualisms evolved from antagonism, how or why remains unclear. A study combining theory and a data-based model sheds light on how mutualisms evolve without extremely tight host fidelity and how ecological context affects evolutionary outcomes and vice-versa.

Using light- and electron microscopy, Khodjakov, Mogilner and colleagues find that the shape of the kinetochore undergoes dramatic changes during mitosis. Computational analysis suggests that this facilitates correct chromosome attachment.

An integrated analysis of over 100 single-cell and single-nucleus transcriptomics studies illustrates severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 viral entry gene coexpression patterns across different human tissues, and shows association of age, smoking status and sex with viral entry gene expression in respiratory cell populations.

Seq-Well provides similar scale and data quality to massively parallel, droplet-based single-cell RNA-seq methods in an easy to use, inexpensive and portable microwell format compatible with low-input samples.

Mitotic chromosome congression is thought to require microtubules attached end-on to kinetochores (K-fibres). In human cells lacking K-fibres, chromosomes congress by the gliding of unattached kinetochores along microtubule bundles, driven by the plus-end kinesin motor CENP-E.

Andrew Singleton and colleagues report a large-scale meta-analysis of genome-wide association data in Parkinson's disease using over 13,000 cases and 95,000 controls plus additional samples for replication. They identify 6 new risk loci and replicate 28 independent risk variants for Parkinson's disease across 24 loci.

Nucleosomes consist of two copies of each histone. H2A.Z is a variant H2A-related histone known to be enriched around transcription start sites. However, an H2A.Z-containing nucleosome could contain contain two copies of H2A.Z (homotypic) or one of H2A.Z and one of canonical H2A (heterotypic). Homotypic and heterotypic H2A.Z nucleosomes are now mapped and their distributions relative to promoters analyzed.

Aircraft measurements, laboratory photolysis experiments and modelling calculations reveal a mechanism for the recycling of nitric acid into nitrogen oxides; this enables observations to be reconciled with model studies, and suggests that particulate nitrate photolysis could be a substantial tropospheric nitrogen oxide source.

David Whitcomb, Bernie Devlin and colleagues report the results of a genome-wide association study of pancreatitis. They identify common variants at two loci associated with risk of this disease, including one on the X chromosome that shows strong evidence of interaction with alcohol consumption.

The authors study an interesting phenomena of shape coexistence in ¹⁸⁶Pb. In an elegant and well-documented experiment, they confirm the coexistence of the three 0⁺ states in the ¹⁸⁶Pb nucleus and reassign the shapes associated with the excited 0⁺ states.

Nanotechnology is having a major impact on medicine and the treatment of disease, notably in imaging and targeted drug delivery. It may, however, be possible to go even further and design 'pseudo-cell' nanofactories that work with molecules already in the body to fight disease.