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This study incorporates local ancestry into the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD) to improve allele frequency estimates for admixed populations, enhancing variant interpretation and enabling more accurate and equitable genomic research and clinical care.

The mechanisms that trigger neurodegeneration in demyelinating disease are unclear. Here, the authors find that impaired remyelination induces a DLK-mediated loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), and that efficient remyelination or DLK inhibition block RGC death.

Osteocytes are the master regulatory cells within the skeleton. Here, the authors map the transcriptome of osteocytes from diverse skeletal sites, ages and between sexes and identify an osteocyte transcriptome signature associated with rare skeletal disorders and common complex skeletal diseases.

Lithium nitride is the only stable binary alkali metal-nitrogen compound and shows promise for energy applications involving the transport of lithium ions. Here, the authors demonstrate that lithium nitride nanostructures can be grown as fibres and sheets despite the absence of a van der Waals gap.

Flow chemistry is a synthesis technique that uses pumps, tubing and connectors to control reactions spatially rather than temporally. This spatial control enables faster reaction times, better temperature regulation and higher yields over traditional batch processes, making it advantageous for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and advanced materials.

The most dramatic cosmic impact in recent history has gathered up almost as many weird explanations as it knocked down trees, writes Duncan Steel.

Complementary transistors are critical for multistage circuits. Asymmetry of source/drain contacts enables creation of single-material, matched complementary organic amplifiers with long-term in vivo stability

The electrostatic interactions in aqueous ionic media are screened by mobile charge carriers, limiting device design and operation speed. Here the built-in electric field is leveraged to dope ions into vanadium dioxide, triggering a surface insulator-to-metal transition, further enabling high-speed in-memory sensing in aqueous solutions.

Osteoarthritis is a chronic, heritable disease with no available treatment. Here, the authors show that a validated, rapid-throughput joint phenotyping pipeline detects osteoarthritis in the mouse knee following surgical provocation, in aging and after single gene deletion or point mutation.

A supramolecular elastic polymer that is stable in the acidic environment of the stomach but dissolves in the neutral-pH environment of the intestines is shown to function as a safe gastric-retentive device in pigs.

Photoinhibition of photosystem I and differential damage of FeS clusters under high light levels are natural phenomena in angiosperms that control electron flow to molecular oxygen while maintaining optimal carbon dioxide assimilation.

Here the authors find a genetic alteration in the popular “Four Core Genotypes” mouse model that is used to distinguish sex-biased phenotypes caused by sex chromosomes and gonads. This alteration increases the expression of some X-linked genes, which might confound the interpretation of the model.

Organic electronic devices enhance biocompatibility, but have to rely on silicon-based technologies to improve limited speed and integration. This problem is overcome by creating a stand-alone, wireless, conformable, fully organic bioelectronic device with high electronic performance, scalability, stability and conformability in physiologic media.

A single-cell-based approach allows the daughters of a damaged cell to be separately tracked following single mitotic events. This technique highlights the different ways in which ultraviolet light and reactive oxygen species cause mutagenesis.

Conducting a simulated turtlegrass herbivory experiment across 650 experimental plots and 13 seagrass meadows, the authors show that the negative effects of herbivory increase with latitude, driven by low levels of light insolation at high latitudes.

There is a clinical need to develop a bioengineering system to support ovary transplantation. Here, the authors generate a bioprosthetic ovary using 3D printed scaffolds of varying pore architectures to support follicle survival and ovarian function in sterilized mice.

Precise and reliable gene delivery remains technically challenging. Here, the authors show that rationally designed frameshifting splicing can be used to express genes only in targeted cell types, with the potential to enhance the specificity AAV gene delivery.

The ATLAS Collaboration reports the observation of the electroweak production of two jets and a Z-boson pair. This process is related to vector-boson scattering and allows the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking to be probed.

Perovskite solar cells can complement silicon photovoltaics in multijunction devices. Here, the authors optimize light harvesting in monolithic perovskite-on-silicon devices and fabricate a certified 23.6% efficient, 1 cm² tandem solar cell with a perovskite device that withstands damp heat tests.

Chopra and colleagues show that the hormone asprosin, independent of its effects on hypothalamic AgRP neurons, activates its cell surface receptor Ptprd on cerebellar Purkinje neurons to enhance thirst for maintenance of fluid homeostasis.

Metals in their zero-valent form offer a great deal of potential for chemical synthesis. The reliable and straightforward activation of these raw materials has perhaps inhibited the full realization of this promise. This review examines the emergence of the technique of ball milling as a reactor technology to enable mechanical activation of zero-valent metals.

The formation of composite materials has been widely exploited to alter the chemical and physical properties of their components. Here the authors form metal–organic framework (MOF) crystal–glass composites in which a MOF glass matrix stabilises the open pore structure of MIL-53, leading to enhanced CO₂ adsorption.

Michaelson et al. report that human SYNGAP1 variation alters touch-related sensory processing. Studies in Syngap1 mice revealed circuit-specific impairments in the somatosensory cortex that underlie reduced cortical activation in response to touch.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have improved our understanding of the genetic basis of lung adenocarcinoma but known susceptibility variants explain only a small fraction of the familial risk. Here, the authors perform a two-stage GWAS and report 12 novel genetic loci associated with lung adenocarcinoma in East Asians.

Herpes simplex virus type I and pseudorabies virus assimilate kinesin from host epithelial cells and repurpose the motor to traffic to the nuclei of neurons in the peripheral nervous system.

Crystal engineering is a powerful process for assembling complex materials but tends to require organic building blocks, which can limit stability. Here, the authors use inorganic polyoxometalates to assemble an all-inorganic metamorphic framework that can be switched between eight distinct states.

Hayday and colleagues show that sustained Skint1-dependent interactions between murine intraepidermal γδ T cells and keratinocytes are required to maintain the homeostatic barrier function and phenotype of the intraepidermal γδ T cells, including their preparedness to respond appropriately to epidermal challenges.

Quantum electrodynamics predicts a rare process in which light is scattered by light. The ATLAS Collaboration reports signs of this elusive effect in the collisions of ultra-relativistic lead ions.

Transferrin receptor 2 (Trf2) is known to regulate iron homeostasis through its action in the liver. Here the authors report a previously unrecognised role of Trf2 in regulating bone homeostasis mediated by modulation of BMP signalling specifically on osteoblasts.

This study identifies a cytolytic peptide toxin in the opportunistic human fungal pathogen Candida albicans—the peptide is both a crucial virulence factor that permeabilizes the host cell plasma membrane and a key signal that triggers a host danger response pathway.

Aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis often occurs after acute seizures that produce epilepsy and cognitive impairment but the role of neurogenesis in the development of epilepsy is unclear. Here the authors suppress adult neurogenesis in mice preceding seizures and show that it reduces subsequent chronic seizure frequency and epilepsy-associated cognitive decline.

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mark involved in gene regulation. Here the authors investigate the extent to which genetics, sex and pregnancy influence genomic DNA methylation in mice, providing evidence of the stability of CpG methylation across generation and suggest that CpG methylation may serve as an epigenetic record of life events in somatic tissues at loci whose expression is linked to the relevant biology.

A common immune signature in the blood of patients with COVID-19, who are otherwise clinically heterogeneous, sheds light into the pathogenesis and clinical progression of the disease.

Astrocytes can regulate neuronal activity. Here, the authors show that astrocyte-specific deletion of Sox9 results in impaired neuronal sensory processing in the mouse adult olfactory bulb.

FXR1P is a RNA binding protein involved in muscle development. Here, the authors show that mutations in FXR1 exon 15, which is alternatively spliced in muscle, cause multi-minicore myopathy in humans and in mouse models.

Sub-surface microbial communities support methanogenesis via methylamine cycling and can persist by fermenting hydraulic fracture injection fluids. Microbial sulfide production contributes to reservoir souring and infrastructure corrosion.

Tissue-engineered constructs with non-fibrous, proteoglycan-rich microdomains match the microstructural, micromechanical and mechanobiological properties of native fibrocartilaginous tissue.

Nicotine has rewarding effects that motivate its consumption. In addition to these rewarding effects, nicotine also has aversive properties that motivate its avoidance. Here the authors identify a pathway in the brain that regulates nicotine avoidance. Adaptive responses in this and other aversion-related pathways may contribute to the development of tobacco addiction.

A single electron spin trapped inside a semiconductor quantum dot forms the foundation for many proposed quantum logic devices, but the coherence is degraded by interactions with the lattice nuclear spins. Here, a means of suppressing the nuclear fluctuations is reported, enabling the electron spin coherence to be preserved much longer.