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Ca₃Ru₂O₇ is a layered ruthenate, which undergoes a spin-reorientation transition where the spins rotate 90 degrees between two anti-ferromagnetic states. Despite extensive study, the driver of this transition has proved elusive. Here, using neutron and resonant x-ray scattering, Dashwood et al. show that this transition is driven by lattice strain.

Sexual dimorphism in genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia, systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren’s syndrome is linked to differential protein abundance from alleles of complement component 4.

The Omicron variant evades vaccine-induced neutralization but also fails to form syncytia, shows reduced replication in human lung cells and preferentially uses a TMPRSS2-independent cell entry pathway, which may contribute to enhanced replication in cells of the upper airway. Altered fusion and cell entry characteristics are linked to distinct regions of the Omicron spike protein.

Amazonian Dark Earth is soil that has had mysteriously high fertility since ancient times, despite the fact that surrounding soils have very low nutrients. Here the authors’ use of isotope reconstructions indicate that these soils predate human settlement and could have alluvial and burning origins.

The authors have identified a subpopulation of astrocytes that is enriched in cortical layer V of the mouse cortex and is also present in the human cortex. These cells express Norrin, a protein mutated in a rare neurological degenerative disease called Norrie disease. Norrin acts on neurons to modify their morphology and activity.

Microorganisms are abundant in many environments and understanding their dispersal between ecosystems is important for ecology and conservation. These authors demonstrate that cyanobacterial populations are specific to hot or cold deserts and that gene flow between different populations does not occur.

Human waste in slums is often collected untreated in pit latrines, which emit GHGs and have negative impacts on human health. If adopted in slums globally, off-site composting could reduce methane emissions from the sanitation sector by 13–44% while improving public health.

Surveying next generation sequencing capabilities in 13 Asian countries identifies challenges to be met for improved implementation, pathogen surveillance and integration into public health decision-making.

Mixed lineage kinase domain-like (MLKL) is the terminal protein in the pro-inflammatory necroptotic cell death program. Here the authors show that MLKL trafficking and plasma membrane accumulation are crucial necroptosis checkpoints, and that accumulation of phosphorylated MLKL at intercellular junctions promotes necroptosis.

Type-2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are an immune population secreting Th2 cytokines playing a role in the regulation of adipose metabolic homeostasis. Here the authors show that engagement of GITR, a member of the TNF superfamily, in activated ILC2s is protective against insulin resistance in both a preventive and a therapeutic manner in the context of obesity.

In a prespecified 3-year analysis of the KEN SHE trial, single-dose HPV vaccination was shown to be well tolerated and provided durable protection against cervical HPV infection in Kenyan women aged 15–20 years.

Single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing are used to construct a cellular atlas of the human heart that will aid further research into cardiac physiology and disease.

Circulating factors play an important role in tissue aging. Here, the authors show that serum EV subpopulations and cargoes remodel with age and that EVs from young mouse serum rejuvenate aged skeletal muscle.

A multi-centre genome-wide association study of severe malaria in African children uncovers a new resistance locus close to a cluster of genes encoding glycophorins, which are receptors used by the malaria-causing parasite to invade red blood cells.

A study of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in England between September 2020 and June 2021 finds that interventions capable of containing previous variants were insufficient to stop the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

Particulate optical backscattering is key to studying the oceanic carbon pump though it remains unclear what particles are detected. Here the authors show that complex particles larger than 1 µm help reproduce all the measured backscattering across the Atlantic Ocean and explain the majority of the signal.

Post-international travel quarantine has been widely implemented to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but the impacts of such policies are unclear. Here, the authors used linked genomic and contact tracing data to assess the impacts of a 14-day quarantine on return to England in summer 2020.

In this study, Aggarwal and colleagues perform prospective sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolates derived from asymptomatic student screening and symptomatic testing of students and staff at the University of Cambridge. They identify important factors that contributed to within university transmission and onward spread into the wider community.

Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is the most prevalent primary immunodeficiency. Here the authors perform single-cell omics analyses in CVID-discordant monozygotic twins and show epigenetic and transcriptional alterations associated with activation in memory B cells.

Crystal structures of BAK core domain dimers suggest a mechanism by which lipids contribute to the oligomerization of BAK, which is essential for BAK-mediated permeabilization of the mitochondrial outer membrane.

Analyses of epigenomic datasets spanning transitions from normal prostate epithelium to localized prostate cancer to metastases show that latent developmental programs are reactivated in metastatic disease and that prostate lineage-specific regulatory elements are strongly enriched for prostate cancer risk heritability.

Collateral sensitivity-inducing mutations in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains lead to re-sensitization of bacteria to penicillin–clavulanic acid combinatorial treatment.

Estimates of infection rates from the UK COVID-19 Infection Survey may have been biased by the characteristics of people who chose to take part. Here, the authors show that the survey population had unusually high vaccination rates and adjust infection estimates taking this into account.

The utility of AsCas12a can be limited to poor editing efficiency. Here the authors identify a variant, “AsCas12a Ultra”, that has high on-target specificity demonstrated through editing of clinically relevant T cell genes.

Designing machine learning hardware on flexible substrates is promising for several applications. Here, the authors propose an integrated smart system built with low-cost flexible electronics components for classifying human malodour, and demonstrates that the proposed system scores malodour as good as expert human assessors.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

After generating a dataset on plumage colouration for over 4,500 bird species, the authors show that tropical species are more colourful than temperate species, confirming a long-held but difficult-to-prove belief.

Variants of the human gene C13orf31 (LACC1) are associated with various disease risks. Kaser and colleagues identify a role for the protein encoded (called ‘FAMIN’) in regulating macrophage fatty-acid oxidation and lipogenesis.

Genomic sequencing of 110 human small cell lung cancers identifies genomic signatures including nearly ubiquitous bi-allelic inactivation of TP53 and RB1, a role for NOTCH family genes, and somatic rearrangements that create an oncogenic version of TP73.

Matthew Brown, Peter Donnelly and colleagues report results of a genome-wide association meta-analysis and follow-up study of ankylosing spondylitis. They identify three new risk variants and report a genetic interaction between ERAP1 and HLA-B27, implicating aberrant peptide handling in the pathophysiology of this disease.

This paper presents evidence for dynamical interactions in the very dense regions in the core of galaxies causing two compact objects, such as neutron stars and black holes, to merge, leading to a gamma-ray burst.

In this study, the authors report that pluripotent stem cell-derived ventricular progenitors target loss of myocardium and fibrotic scarring to promote heart regeneration, thus offering new potential therapeutic strategies for heart injury.

Subretinal viral delivery, in mice, of an adenine base editor and a single-guide RNA targeting a nonsense mutation in the Rpe65 gene restores near-normal levels of retinal and visual functions.

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.

Mechanical and metabolic cues contribute to regulate cell and tissue homeostasis but how they are integrated is not known. Here the authors show that the amino acid transporter and integrin coreceptor CD98hc regulates mechanical signaling downstream of integrins indirectly through regulating sphingolipid availability.

The cell cycle regulatory E3 ligase APC/C cooperates with UBE2C to prime substrates with ubiquitin and UBE2S to extend the ubiquitin chains. Careful analysis reveals that binding of the UBE2S to APC/C accelerates the rate-limiting step of APC/C–UBE2C.

Diketopiperazine (DKP) natural products have diverse structures and biological functions. Here, the authors elucidate the biosynthetic pathway for indole alkaloid DKP nocardioazine B which includes DKP stereoisomerization by an unusual aspartate/glutamate racemase homolog and N- and C-methylation by a dual function methyltransferase.

Deficiency in mevalonate kinase causes autoinflammatory disease. Wang and colleagues define the detailed mechanistic basis that leads to this disease phenotype in mice and humans.

Creating laboratory-grown bone for implantation into injury sites is an aim of regenerative medicine. However, newly grown bone may not have the same structural and compositional properties as native bone. Materials characterization shows that the source of cells for the new bone growth has a significant effect on its properties.