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The human pelvis exhibits distinct spatiotemporal ossification patterns and an ilium cartilage growth plate that is shifted perpendicularly compared with those of other mammals and non-human primates—two key adaptations that underlie bipedalism.

Newly described fossils from Georgia in Eurasia and from Kenya shed more light on the earliest members of the genus Homo. These finds indicate that there was considerable variability in their size and shape.

Fossils of tiny ancient humans, found on the island of Flores, have provoked much debate and speculation. Evidence that they are a real species comes from analyses of the foot and also — more surprisingly — of dwarf hippos.

A genome-wide association study including over 76,000 individuals with schizophrenia and over 243,000 control individuals identifies common variant associations at 287 genomic loci, and further fine-mapping analyses highlight the importance of genes involved in synaptic processes.

A leg bone and two arm bones of a hominin from Chad suggest that, seven million years ago, around the time that the human and chimpanzee lineages split, early hominins were bipedal but were also able to climb trees.

Study shows perilous state of fish stocks as management meeting begins.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Characterizing EBV and host gene expression profiles of spontaneous lymphoblastoid cell lines isolated from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with acute or stable disease, as well as healthy donors, suggests antivirals as a potential road to treat MS.

Large genome-wide meta-analysis of clinically diagnosed late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) from 94,437 individuals identifies new LOAD risk loci and implicates Aβ formation, tau protein binding, immune response and lipid metabolism.

The genus Homo had considerably smaller cheek teeth, chewing muscles and jaws than earlier hominins; here, the introduction of raw but processed meat, from which energy could more easily be extracted, is shown to have possibly been responsible for this change.

Although humans have engaged in long-distance running either barefoot or with minimal footwear for most of human evolutionary history, the modern running shoe was not invented until the 1970s. Here, runners who habitually run in sports shoes are shown to run differently to those who habitually run barefoot, with the latter often landing on the fore-foot rather than the rear-foot. This strike pattern may have evolved to protect from some of the impact-related injuries now experienced by runners.

Genome-wide analyses identify common variants associated with 11 distinct neuropathology endophenotypes, providing insights into the mechanisms underlying the genetic risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

CITES conference hailed as a “game changer” for vulnerable species.

Humans are able to throw projectiles with high speed and accuracy largely as a result of anatomical features that enable elastic energy storage and release at the shoulder; features that first appear together approximately 2 million years ago in Homo erectus, possibly as a means to hunt.

Here, Elbasir et al. develop viRNAtrap, a deep learning approach for detection of viruses from tumor RNA sequencing data, which they showcase on an RNA dataset of different cancer types, revealing tumor expression of divergent viruses that had not been previously implicated in cancer.

The CNV analysis group of the Psychiatric Genomic Consortium analyzes a large schizophrenia cohort to examine genomic copy number variants (CNVs) and disease risk. They find an enrichment of CNV burden in cases versus controls and identify 8 genome-wide significant loci as well as novel suggestive loci conferring either risk or protection to schizophrenia.

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.

Niemann-Pick type C disease is characterized by deficiency of the endolysosomal cholesterol transporter NPC1. Here, the authors show in Npc1^−/− mice that loss of NPC1 impairs oligodendrocyte lineage cell differentiation and developmental myelination through perturbed epigenetic regulation.

A transparent organic infrared photodetector array can be placed over a commercial display to provide a touchless control interface.

Hsp chaperones stabilize the inactive conformation of androgen receptor (AR) and are released upon hormone-induced AR activation. Here, the authors locate the Hsp binding region on AR, and show that Hsp70 reduces AR aggregation and promotes AR degradation in cellular and mouse models of a neuromuscular disorder.

An improved, fully re-annotated Aedes aegypti genome assembly (AaegL5) provides insights into the sex-determining M locus, chemosensory systems that help mosquitoes to hunt humans and loci involved in insecticide resistance and will help to generate intervention strategies to fight this deadly disease vector.

By taking advantage of stimulated Raman spectroscopy and fibre-laser technology, virtual histology images can be obtained in real time in the operating room, with diagnostic quality comparable with that achieved via conventional histopathology.

The role of ATM in DNA double-strand break (DSB) signalling is well established, but its function in the repair process remains controversial. Here, Álvarez-Quilón et al.show that ATM acts in the joining of blocked DSBs, uncovering DNA end structure as a key factor determining ATM involvement in DSB repair.

Agnihotri and colleagues show that loss of the MAT2A enzyme of the methionine cycle induces a global depletion of H3K36me3 and extends survival in glioma models, representing a potential therapeutic vulnerability.

Results from the LAVENDER phase 3 study demonstrate that trofinetide, a synthetic analog of glycine–proline–glutamate, provides significant therapeutic benefits in the core symptoms of Rett syndrome

Genetic architecture underlies the complexity of heritable traits. Here, the authors perform high-resolution genetic mapping of metabolic traits in S. cerevisiae and show evidence for selection across standing genetic variation.

How animals sense and properly avoid predators remains incompletely understood. Here, Jiang et al. show that the B cell co-receptor, CD20 also functions as an olfactory receptor and mediates the innate avoidance of predator derived odors.

Relatives of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis have an unexpectedly high incidence of schizophrenia. Here, the authors show a genetic link between the two conditions, suggesting shared neurobiological mechanisms.