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African ancestry is a known risk factor for prostate cancer development, but the genetic determinants of this are incompletely understood. Here, the authors identify 172 potentially pathogenic variants which are enriched in an African population.

Analysis combining multiple global tree databases reveals that whether a location is invaded by non-native tree species depends on anthropogenic factors, but the severity of the invasion depends on the native species diversity.

A population genomic analysis of 1,854 Listeria soil isolates collected across the contiguous United States identifies geographically prevalent phylogroups with increased pangenome openness and recombination, as a result of adaptation to variable environments.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

Non-syndromic orofacial cleft is a relatively common congenital anomaly. Many non-coding genetic variants are associated with this disorder but only a subset is functional. Here the authors use reporter assays and stem cells to reveal members of this subset.

A study reports whole-genome sequences for 490,640 participants from the UK Biobank and combines these data with phenotypic data to provide new insights into the relationship between human variation and sequence variation.

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.

A preclinical covalent compound, CMX410, contains a aryl fluorosulfate warhead that targets the acyltransferase domain of Mtb Pks13, an essential enzyme in cell-wall biosynthesis, making it a promising candidate for tuberculosis treatment regimens.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

Species’ traits and environmental conditions determine the abundance of tree species across the globe. Here, the authors find that dominant tree species are taller and have softer wood compared to rare species and that these trait differences are more strongly associated with temperature than water availability.

Genome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in ancestrally diverse populations implicate candidate causal genes and mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes. Trans-ancestry genetic risk scores enhance transferability across populations.

The International Brain Laboratory presents a brain-wide electrophysiological map obtained from pooling data from 12 laboratories that performed the same standardized perceptual decision-making task in mice.

MultiSTAAR provides a general and flexible statistical framework for functionally informed multi-trait rare variant analysis of biobank-scale sequencing studies by jointly analyzing multiple traits and incorporating annotation information.

Here, the authors leverage whole-genome sequencing from >88,000 diverse individuals to uncover 18 BMI-related genetic signals, including novel variants in participants of African genetic ancestry, highlighting the value of diversity in genetic discovery.

Electron hopping in geometrically frustrated lattices can result in a rich variety of unusual behaviours. Now, the orbital arrangement in a van der Waals metal with a non-frustrated, primitive lattice is found to show similar effects.

A panel of urinary biomarkers enables the progression of renal injury and subsequent repair and recovery to be monitored after exposure of rats to either carbapenem A or gentamicin. The authors complement this study by demonstrating that serum cystatin C is more sensitive and specific than serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen in monitoring generalized renal function after exposure to nephrotoxicants.

At equilibrium, the ferroelectric polarization is proportional to the strain. At ultrafast timescales, an above-bandgap laser excitation decouples strain and polarization, which, out of equilibrium, is mainly determined by the photoexcited electrons.

A reinforcement learning-based virtual reality system, implementing a series of sport sessions with coaching, was as effective as standard physical activity in reducing fat mass in adolescents, with positive effects on cognition.

Arginylation is a post-translational modification that is difficult to distinguish from arginine residues using mass spectrometry. Now a method has been developed to profile protein arginylation ex vivo and is tested on different samples, revealing 235 unique arginylation sites in the human proteomes.

Proper cellular proteostasis requires a network of the chaperonin TRiC/CCT with cochaperones prefoldin (PFD) and phosducin-like proteins (PhLPs) to facilitate the folding of essential eukaryotic proteins. Here, the authors characterized the ATP-driven cycle of TRiC-PFD-PhLP2A interaction using cryoEM and biochemical analyses.

Using intracranial EEG recordings in epilepsy patients, Pacheco-Estefan et al. describe changes in the neural representations of cues and contexts during fear and extinction learning in the human brain.

Defects in liquid crystals play a central role in determining their structural and dynamic properties, whilst it is challenging to characterize the defects at a molecule level. Here, Gimet al. trace the evolution pathway of defects during a phase transition from a nematic to a smectic state.

Analyses of genome and exome sequencing data identify rare coding and structural variants associated with atrial fibrillation and highlight genetic links between atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathies.

Wastewater surveillance can help in pandemic or outbreak response. Here, the authors report an unsupervised learning approach to detect emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants from rural and urban wastewater showing it achieves earlier detection than existing methods and detects new variants without clinical testing data.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study of blood lipid levels in roughly 1.6 million individuals demonstrates the gain of power attained when diverse ancestries are included to improve fine-mapping and polygenic score generation, with gains in locus discovery related to sample size.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

A genome-wide association study meta-analysis combined with multiomics data of osteoarthritis identifies 700 effector genes as well as biological processes with a convergent involvement of multiple effector genes; 10% of these genes express the target of approved drugs.

Whether and how cells measure and regulate their adhesion in response to the extracellular matrix area is unknown. Here, the authors show that cells adhering to restricted matrix protein areas exhibit a spatially enhanced adhesion state with much higher force per unit area compared to cells on larger areas.

A survey across 90 societies reveals that variation and change in everyday norms are explained by a single value dimension: the priority societies place on individualizing versus binding moral concerns.

Offshore wind-powered green methanol could achieve cost parity with conventional marine fuels by 2030−2035 under EU regulations, enabling sustainable shipping through scalable technology and policy incentives.

A multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of problematic alcohol use in one million individuals identified 110 risk variants and shows that multi-ancestry polygenic scores improve risk prediction compared with single-ancestry scores

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of type 2 diabetes (T2D) identifies more than 600 T2D-associated loci; integrating physiological trait and single-cell chromatin accessibility data at these loci sheds light on heterogeneity within the T2D phenotype.

Current CO₂ capture strategies often suffer from high thermal regeneration costs. Now a photobase has been shown to reversibly capture and release CO₂ from ambient air using visible light, offering a sustainable, energy-efficient alternative.

Several studies show that APOE-ε4 coding variants are associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk. Here, Zhou et al. perform fine-mapping of the APOE region and find AD risk haplotypes with non-coding variants in the PVRL2 and APOC1 regions that are associated with relevant endophenotypes.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

Holographic transcranial ultrasound cortical stimulation achieves single or multiple adjacently grouped high-resolution foci.

The goals, resources and design of the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) programme are described, and analyses of rare variants detected in the first 53,831 samples provide insights into mutational processes and recent human evolutionary history.

This study finds that sST2 is a disease-causing factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Higher sST2 levels impair microglial Aβ clearance in APOE4⁺ female individuals. A genetic variant, rs1921622, is associated with a reduction in sST2 level and protects against AD in APOE4⁺ female individuals.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.