Search

Electrochemical CO reduction to multi-carbon products offers a carbon-negative approach to produce chemicals, but the intricate reaction pathways lead to a broad spectrum of products. Now it has been shown that alkali cations alter the mechanistic pathways that govern the reaction selectivity involved in the formation of hydrocarbons versus oxygenates.

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ over copper can be made highly selective by ‘tuning’ the copper surface with adsorbed organic molecules to stabilize intermediates for carbon-based fuels such as ethylene

Here the authors compare genetic testing strategies in rare movement disorders, improve diagnostic yield with genome analysis, and establish CD99L2 as an X-linked spastic ataxia gene, showing that CD99L2–CAPN1 signaling disruption likely drives neurodegeneration.

The photocatalytic reforming of plastics into value-added chemicals offers a promising strategy to address environmental challenges while providing significant energy benefits. Here, the authors develop modified carbon nitride with enhanced visible light absorption, effectively anchoring under-coordinated IrN₂O₂ sites to catalyze the oxidation of persistent plastic derivatives.

Enhancing the kinetics and selectivity of CO₂/CO electroreduction towards valuable multi-carbon products poses a scientific challenge and is imperative for practical applicability. Here the authors report that modifying copper catalysts with surface thiol ligands significantly improves acetate selectivity.

Brown et al. show that mouse islet progenitors with different transcriptomes produce distinct β-cell subtypes and maternal diet alter the subtype proportions. Similar β-cell subsets exist in humans, with a subset enriched in genes related to β cell function reduced in diabetes.

Rechargeable batteries are governed by reversible intercalation reactions. Here the authors expand the intercalation chemistry to include methyl viologen as a large dicationic charge carrier in aqueous batteries. The bonding between guest and aromatic host is not pure ionic but shows strong covalent character.

The development of robust catalysts that could work under industrial-scale current densities remains a challenge for chlor-related reactions. Here, the authors report an activation method for designing efficient ruthenium single-atom catalysts that enhance chlor-related production and recycling.

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.

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.

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.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

Oxygen reduction to hydrogen peroxide is a promising alternative to replace the energy-intensive anthraquinone process in industry. Now, the hydrogen peroxide electrosynthesis performance of a carbon-supported cobalt phthalocyanine catalyst is tuned via the introduction of oxygen functional groups to the support, which optimize the electronic structure of cobalt active sites.

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.

Copper is unique among CO₂ electrocatalysts owing to its ability to produce multicarbon products at high rates; however, achieving selectivity for specific products remains challenging. Here, Cu surfaces decorated with alkaline earth metal oxides are found to strongly favour alcohols over hydrocarbons.

During SARS-CoV-2 infection caspase-8 fuels harmful inflammation independent of apoptosis. Genetic loss of caspase-8 reduces cytokine levels, lowers viral load and mitigates disease severity, revealing non-apoptotic caspase-8 as a key driver of severe COVID-19.

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.

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.

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.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

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.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

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.

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.

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.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

Sluggish kinetics of the CO₂ reactions lead to the accumulation of Li₂CO₃ residuals, which hinders the cycling stability of Li-CO₂ batteries. Here, the authors reveal the catalytic role of in-situ formed C-N species in enhancing the reversibility of Li₂CO₃ and cycle life of Li-CO₂ batteries.

In colorectal cancer (CRC), finding loci associated with risk may give insight into disease aetiology. Here, the authors report a genome-wide association analysis in Europeans of 34,627 CRC cases and 71,379 controls, and find 31 new risk loci and 17 new risk SNPs at previously reported loci.

Maps of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) help identify new components of pathways, complexes, and processes. In this work, state-of-the-art methods are used to identify binary Drosophila PPIs, generating broadly useful physical and data resources.

Fe–N–C catalysts are a promising alternative to precious metals in fuel cell cathodes, but they suffer from durability issues. Now, a preparation method is reported that allows increasing the active site density while also improving durability.

It is of high interests to develop new catalysts for selective CO2 electroreduction. Here the authors investigate two-dimensional transition metal carbides for CO2 to methane conversion with superior activity, selectivity and low overpotentials.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Charge transfer is facilitated in molecular systems through orbital coupling. Here the authors use core-hole-clock spectroscopy to show that electron transfer from an argon atom caged in a fullerene can be up to two orders of magnitude faster than for the isolated atom.

The contribution of vibrations to the stability of high-entropy ceramics is still controversial. Here the authors computationally integrate disorder parameterization, phonon modelling, and thermodynamic characterization to investigate the role of vibrations to the stability of high-entropy carbides.

The development of aqueous organic redox flow batteries suffers from the limited availability of high-performance catholytes. Here the authors design a metal organic complex catholyte material with a tunable redox potential, which offers promise for high-energy long-lasting flow batteries.

The molecular mechanisms underlying merlin-intact meningioma growth remain to be explored. Here, the authors show that merlin activates Wnt signalling and tumour growth through its dephosphorylation on serine 13 attenuating the inhibitory interactions with β-catenin.