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An analysis of 52 million births in 26 countries shows small reductions in preterm birth during the first to third months of lockdown. Further research is needed to examine causal pathways.

This study investigates the genetic similarities and differences between two subtypes of glaucoma (normal tension and high tension). Multi-ethnic meta-analysis reveals overlapping risk loci, with a lower effect magnitude in normal tension glaucoma. The authors also use their gene discovery approach to highlight possible neuro-protective drug targets for glaucoma.

Two exoplanets of Earth’s size have been discovered in orbit around the star Kepler-20.

Analyses of 475 ancient horse genomes show modern horses emerged around 2200 bce, coinciding with sudden expansion across Eurasia, refuting the narrative of large horse herds accompanying earlier migrations of steppe peoples across Europe.

Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) is still not well understood. Here the authors provide patient reported outcomes from 590 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and show association of PASC with higher respiratory SARS-CoV-2 load and circulating antibody titers, and in some an elevation in circulating fibroblast growth factor 21.

Stabilized, native-like trimers of the HIV envelope protein, such as SOSIP trimers, are potential antigens for an HIV vaccine. Here, the authors generate a SOSIP trimer based on the consensus sequence of group M isolates, determine its structure and exposure of common epitopes, and show immunogenicity in rabbits and non-human primates.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

In this work, authors assess airway microbiome dynamics to show bacterial pneumonia in critically ill COVID-19 patients is significantly associated with death, corticosteroid treatment, disruption of the lung microbiome and a distinct pulmonary host response.

SARS-CoV-2 variants with mutations in spike have emerged during the pandemic. Magaret et al. show that in Latin America, efficacy of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine against moderate to severe–critical COVID-19 varied by sequence features, antibody escape scores, and neutralization impacting features of the SARS-CoV-2 variant.

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.

Acetaminophen-induced liver injury is one of the most common causes of liver failure and has to be treated within hours of the overdose. Here Barbier-Torres et al. show that targeting MCJ, a mitochondrial negative regulator, even 24 h after the overdose protects liver from acetaminophen-induced damage.

Here, the authors expand knowledge of the genetic architecture of age-related cataracts, exploring associated pathways and drug-gene interactions, and clarify the roles of type 1 diabetes and UV exposure in cataract etiology.

Derailed differentiation of human-specific progenitors of the developing cerebellar rhombic lip is the cause of group 4 medulloblastoma, the most common childhood brain tumour. 

It is currently unknown how climate and land use changes could affect the endemic area of Lassa virus, a zoonotic pathogen responsible for Lassa fever. Here, the authors show that by 2070, new regions in Africa will likely become ecologically suitable for Lassa virus, drastically increasing the population living in conditions favourable for virus circulation.

Sonic Hedgehog medulloblastoma (Shh-MB) comprises four subtypes each with distinct clinical traits. Here the authors characterize the genome, transcriptome, and methylome of Shh-MB subtypes, revealing a complex fusion landscape and the molecular convergence of MYCN and cAMP signaling pathways.

Analysis of HbA1c and FPG levels across 117 population-based studies demonstrates regional variation in prevalence of previously undiagnosed screen-detected diabetes using one or both measures and suggests that use of elevated FPG alone could underestimate diabetes prevalence in low- and middle-income countries.

A foundation model learns transcriptional regulatory syntax from chromatin accessibility and sequence data across a range of cell types to predict gene expression and transcription factor interactions, with generalizability to unseen cell types.

Submarine melting has been suggested as a trigger for the widespread acceleration of tidewater glaciers in Greenland. An analysis of oceanographic data from the fjord off Helheim Glacier, Greenland, suggests the presence of light Arctic and dense Atlantic waters in the fjord and that the melting circulation is more complex than thought.

Aneuploidy — an abnormal number of chromosomes — typically has a detrimental effect on viability. Somewhat paradoxically, it is a remarkably common feature of cancer. This Review discusses how aneuploidy occurs, the cellular responses to aneuploidy and how aneuploidy can provide particular selective advantages during tumorigenesis.

Biomphalaria glabrata is a fresh water snail that acts as a host for trematode Schistosoma mansoni that causes intestinal infection in human. This work describes the genome and transcriptome analyses from 12 different tissues of B glabrata, and identify genes for snail behavior and evolution.

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.

A study reporting the results of a clinical trial co-administering the GDF-15-blocking antibody visugromab with the anti-PD-1 antibody nivolumab demonstrates that neutralizing GDF-15 can overcome resistance to immune checkpoint inhibition in cancer.

Case report of an individual heterozygous for a rare RELN-COLBOS variant that confers resilience, via a gain-of-function mechanism, to Alzheimer’s disease.

An exome-wide association study of six smoking phenotypes in up to 749,459 individuals identifies associations of rare coding variants in CHRNB2 that may reduce the likelihood of smoking.

Exome-sequencing analyses of a large cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes and control individuals without diabetes from five ancestries are used to identify gene-level associations of rare variants that are associated with type 2 diabetes.

Lauer and colleagues examine CD8⁺ T cells following cure of human hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. CD8⁺ T cells exposed to chronic HCV-specific activation show durable functional, phenotypic and transcriptional exhaustion that is maintained even after antigen stimulus is removed.

Recent estimates of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) intake are generally unavailable. Here the authors show a global SSBs intake of 2.7 servings/week in 2018 in adults (range: 0.7 South Asia, 7.8 Latin America/Caribbean); intakes were higher among males, younger, more educated, and urban adults.

Two below-threshold surface code memories on superconducting processors markedly reduce logical error rates, achieving high efficiency and real-time decoding, indicating potential for practical large-scale fault-tolerant quantum algorithms.

A diverse, multidisciplinary panel of 386 experts in COVID-19 response from 112 countries provides health and social policy actions to address inadequacies in the pandemic response and help to bring this public health threat to an end.

The function of TRPA1 channels in the mammalian cochlea is poorly understood. Here, the authors show that TRPA1 channels in supporting cells of the organ of Corti mediate contractile responses that may contribute to temporary shifts in hearing thresholds after noise exposure in mice.

Paiardini and colleagues describe a subset of lymph node HIV- and SIV-specific TOX^hiTCF1⁺CD39⁺CD8⁺ T cells that coexhibit stem- and effector-like phenotypic and transcriptional profiles and associate with reduced viral burden.

In this work, the authors study the immunological and virological effects of administering either wild-type anti-HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) or bNAbs with a mutation that increases binding to Fc-gamma receptors (FcγRs) to rhesus macaques in the acute phase of SHIV_AD8-EO infection.

The adhesion complex (Nap) in Mycoplasma genitalium is composed of the adhesin proteins P110 and P140 and essential for infectivity, motility and adhesion of this human pathogen. Here, the author present the structures of P140 alone and the P140/P110 complex in closed and open conformations and based on their structural data and further functional studies propose a mechanism for the attachment and release of M. genitalium to the host cell receptor.

LNK is a tumor suppressor in hematopoietic cancers, but its function in melanoma is unclear. Here, the authors show that the overexpression of LNK in melanomas correlate with hyperactive signaling of the RAS-RAF-MEK pathway and LNK enhances melanoma growth and survival and immune evasion by inhibiting IFN signalling.

Integration of closed-loop experiments with physics-based feature selection and supervised learning, denoted as closed-loop transfer, yields chemical insights in parallel with optimization of objective functions.

The death of massive stars has traditionally been discovered by explosive events in the gamma-ray band. Liu et al. show that the sensitive wide-field monitor on board Einstein Probe can reveal a weak soft-X-ray signal much earlier than gamma rays.

Subramanian et al. use the EcoTyper machine-learning framework to characterize the tumor, immune and stromal cell states and ecosystems that comprise sarcomas.

Here, the authors characterize two distinct T_reg cell populations in the visceral adipose tissue of lean and high-fat diet-fed mice. ST2⁺ T_reg cells are dominant in male mice and are transcriptionally driven by GATA3 and PPARγ, regulators that limit the differentiation of the more female-dominant population of CXCR3⁺ T_reg cells that are T-bet dependent. Functional distinctions are also evident in glucose tolerance and adipose inflammation.

The effectiveness of protected areas under climate change is debated. Here, the authors analyse the potential effectiveness of protected areas for conserving over 70% of extant amphibian and reptile species under present and future climate scenarios.