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Analyses of the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017 reveal inequalities across countries as well as within populations.

Village chickens are commonplace among smallholder communities, but mortality is high. This study compares two regions in Ethiopia and finds that unique adaptations, including traits and parasite burdens, reflect distinct gene pools likely shaped by human-driven selection. Results suggest sustainable interventions for village chickens should be locally tailored.

Monkeypox virus genomic data from Nigeria and Cameroon, sampled between 2018 and 2023, indicate that the virus spread through repeated zoonoses in Cameroon, whereas in Nigeria, it spread mainly through human–human transmission, predominantly originating in Rivers State.

Stable isotope and community faunal analysis of early hominid environments in the lower Awash Valley (Ethiopia) and Turkana Basin (Kenya/Ethiopia) reveal environmental change and divergence coincident with the emergence of the genus Homo (approx. 2.8 Ma).

A global multi-taxon extinction risk assessment of freshwater fauna for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species finds one-quarter of species to be at high risk of extinction.

High-throughput automated synthesis is used to investigate the crystallization behaviour of two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskites (HPs) based on a bulky ligand cation, 3,3-diphenylpropylammonium. The solution-processed 2D HP flakes realize a moiré superlattice, indicating the formation of a twisted 2D stack via self-assembly action.

Understanding the emergence, evolution, and transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is essential to combat antimicrobial resistance. Here, Munk et al. analyse ARGs in hundreds of sewage samples from 101 countries and describe regional patterns, diverse genetic environments of common ARGs, and ARG-specific transmission patterns.

Plasmodium falciparum candidate artemisinin partial-resistance Kelch13 622I mutation co-occurs with pfhrp2/3 deletions in Ethiopia.

The tuberculosis pandemic requires new methods for diagnosing and containing infections prior to active disease. Here, the authors performed a multi-site observational study within sub-Saharan Africa and present serum and plasma metabolic signatures that can predict the onset of active TB with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity.

Brhane, Fola et al. survey prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum Artemisinin Partial Resistance Mutations in Ethiopia using large-scale genomic surveillance. They report the widespread presence of the K13 R622I mutation and emergence of validated resistance variants, emphasizing that continued molecular monitoring is needed to guide malaria control.

A prospective, cross-sectional survey of 12,572 participants in Ethiopia reveals that malaria diagnostics miss almost 10% of cases owing to a gene deletion in Plasmodium falciparum that is under positive selection.

A genome-wide association study suggests 41 previously unreported loci on top of the 23 known loci that influence the disease risk for lumbar disc herniations. Many of these loci harbour genes implicated in disc structure and inflammation, as well as genes related to the nervous system and nerve function.

The authors show that recent deforestation induced more warming and cloud level rise than that caused by climate change, threatening biodiversity and water supply in African montane forests.

Genomic analyses, performed by Carey-Ewend et al., reveal that Plasmodium ovale curtisi and wallikeri in sub-Saharan Africa show similar low complexity of infection, relatedness by geography, and signatures of selection. However, P. ovale wallikeri harbors lower nucleotide diversity.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association analyses identify new risk loci for Parkinson’s disease, and fine-mapping and co-localization analyses implicate candidate genes whose expression is associated with disease susceptibility.

Dry-season climate variability is a primary driver of tropical tree growth, according to observations from a pantropical tree-ring network.

The Ethiopian wolf is one of Africa’s most endangered carnivores. A new fossil specimen indicates the presence of this species in Ethiopia since the Early Pleistocene, with climate modelling indicating variable past and future ranges for the species.

The global biodiversity crisis impacting agriculture is overlooked compared with wild systems. This Perspective presents an overview of the the tools developed for wild biodiversity conservation and provides a framework to adapt these for agrobiodiversity conservation to better address sustainability goals.

The evolutionary history of pigs in Africa is unclear. Here, the authors examine 67 whole genomes, finding incomplete speciation between bushpigs and red river hogs as well as evidence suggesting that humans brought bushpigs to Madagascar 1000-5000 years ago.

Obtaining data on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from healthy human populations is difficult. Here, Hendriksen et al. use metagenomic analysis to obtain AMR data from untreated sewage from 79 sites in 60 countries, finding correlations with socio-economic, health and environmental factors.

Snakebite envenoming is a leading cause of mortality among neglected tropical diseases. Here, the authors analyze a global data repository and estimate that snakebite envenoming caused over 63,000 deaths in 2019, primarily concentrated in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The spatial and temporal scales over which continental breakup occurs by mechanical deformation and magma intrusion remain controversial. Keiret al. quantify anisotropy across the Afar Triple Junction using S-wave splitting from earthquakes to evaluate the strain in a region of continental breakup.

The future challenges and potential opportunities of robotics and autonomous systems in urban ecosystems, and how they may impact biodiversity, are explored and prioritized via a global horizon scan of 170 experts.

Several dams and reservoirs exist along the Nile, most notably the HAD (Egypt) and GERD (Ethiopia) dams. Due to the lack of strategies, the authors here explore potential risks and solutions how to use both dams simultaneously.

The buoyancy of magma should cause it to rise into the crust, preventing it from ponding in the uppermost mantle. Magnetotelluric data from the Dabbahu rift segment, Ethiopia, identify a magma reservoir that extends well into the mantle beneath the rift, and is so large that it should persist for thousands of years.

Many genetic factors that contribute to uterine leiomyomata (UL) - the most common tumours of the female genital tract - remain to be discovered. Here, the authors conduct a UL meta-genome-wide association study, and find loci related to altered muscle tissue biology that are associated with UL.

Contrary to the view that urbanization is a major driver of the global rise in obesity, the global increase in body-mass index is shown to be mostly due to increases in the body-mass indexes of rural populations.

In Africa, the burden of treating the more common and widespread communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis has meant that treatment of kidney disease has been a low priority. In this Review, the authors describe the epidemiology of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease in Africa. They discuss the unique problems faced across this continent and the programmes that have been put in place to attempt to tackle these problems.

Key events in human evolution are thought to have occurred between 3 and 2.5 Ma, but the fossil record of this period is sparse. Here, Alemseged et al. report a new fossil site from this period, Mille-Logya, Ethiopia, and characterize the geology, basin evolution and fauna, including specimens of Homo.

Narcolepsy has genetic and environmental risk factors, but the specific genetic risk loci and interaction with environmental triggers are not well understood. Here, the authors identify genetic loci for narcolepsy, suggesting infection as a trigger and dendritic and helper T cell involvement.