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Using ethnically and geographically diverse metagenomic data, the authors identify microbiota alterations associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). They discover universal IBD-associated bacteria, which serve as the basis for a multibacteria biomarker panel that could support a noninvasive tool for IBD diagnosis.

Microbiota-gut-brain axis may play an important role in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Here, the authors assess gut microbiota in early PD, REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) and first-degree relatives of RBD and show PD-like gut dysbiosis occurs in RBD and their first-degree relatives.

Here the authors isolate two human antibodies, H7.HK1 and H7.HK2, that achieve broad and potent neutralization against H7N9 influenza by targeting a distinct lateral patch on the hemagglutinin head, thus making them favorable to complement other antibodies for combination therapy.

The authors experimentally demonstrate the implementation of a non-linear activation function integrated with a ramp analog-to-digital conversion at the periphery of the memory to improve in-memory implementation of recurrent neural networks.

There is evidence of increased risk of myasthenia gravis following statin therapy. Here the authors investigated this association using electronic health records and suggest a minimum monitoring period of approximately six months for MG symptoms for patients starting using statins.

Hong Kong experienced a severe wave of SARS-CoV-2 in early 2022. Here, the authors use genomic and serosurveillance data and show that this wave was dominated by the Omicron BA.2 sublineage, and that low protective immunity, particularly in older age groups, contributed to its severity.

Whether switching from low-molecular-weight heparin to direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in cancer-associated thrombosis patients is safe and effective is unknown. Here, the authors show that switching to DOACs reduced venous thromboembolism and mortality without increasing bleeding.

Chiral α-tertiary amines and tertiary alcohols are prevalent in bioactive molecules yet challenging targets to access. Here, the authors provide a dinuclear zinc-catalyzed desymmetric approach based on readily available malonic esters.

Nanoparticle strengthening provides a crucial basis for developing high-performance materials, which often fails to work due to poor thermal stability. Here, the authors achieve thermally stable nanoparticles at 800~1000 °C in chemically complex alloys via controllable sluggish lattice diffusion.

The amber deposits from Kachin, Myanmar have provided numerous insights into life in the Cretaceous ~99 million years ago. Here, Zheng and colleagues describe a new Late Cretaceous amber biota from Tilin, Myanmar, dating from ~72 million years ago and preserving a diverse insect assemblage.

Intestinal TM6SF2 is found to interact with fatty acid-binding protein 5 to modulate the secretion of fatty acids and the composition of the gut microbiota, thereby protecting against metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.

Several studies show that APOE-ε4 coding variants are associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk. Here, Zhou et al. perform fine-mapping of the APOE region and find AD risk haplotypes with non-coding variants in the PVRL2 and APOC1 regions that are associated with relevant endophenotypes.

In this Viewpoint, Alina M. Allen, Juan Pablo Arab and Vincent Wai-Sun Wong reflect on the past, present and future of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) research and clinical management.

A peptide-based fluorescent inhibitor of the dimerization of an oncoprotein of the Epstein–Barr virus blocks the proliferation of tumours associated with the virus in mice.

The synthesis of closo-carboranes with more than 14 vertexes is challenging, and no examples have been reported to date. Herein, the authors present the long-sought 15- and 16-vertex closo-carboranes, in which the introduction of silyl groups to the two cage carbons is crucial; this finding might enable the synthesis of even larger carborane analogs in the future.

As economic competition in the region increases, Hong Kong has to reinvent itself as a knowledge-based society.

Interaction of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide grains with exposed oxygen–aluminium atomic plane in sapphire is a more dominant factor than step-edge docking in controlling the single-crystal epitaxy of these materials.

Smart meters collect detailed consumption data but struggle with on-device analytics due to hardware and privacy issues. The authors propose an end-edge-cloud federated split learning framework to introduce edge intelligence, reducing memory, training time, and communication burden while maintaining accuracy.

Coronaviruses exploit the host caspase-6 to cleave coronavirus nucleocapsid protein into fragments with interferon-antagonizing activity to facilitate virus replication.

Chemical vapor deposition enables the scalable production of 2D semiconductors, but the grown materials are usually affected by high defect densities. Here, the authors report a hydroxide vapour phase deposition method to synthesize wafer-scale monolayer WS₂ with reduced defect density and electrical properties comparable to those of exfoliated flakes.

SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern such as the Omicron variant pose a challenge for vaccination and antibody immunotherapy. Here, Zhou et al. isolate a broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb), named ZCB11, that protects Golden Syrian hamsters against Omicron. Applying CryoEM the authors show that ZCB11 heavy chain predominantly interacts with RBD in up confirmation, which interferes with ACE2 receptor binding.

This study finds that sST2 is a disease-causing factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Higher sST2 levels impair microglial Aβ clearance in APOE4⁺ female individuals. A genetic variant, rs1921622, is associated with a reduction in sST2 level and protects against AD in APOE4⁺ female individuals.

Studying chemosensory processing desires precise chemical cue presentation, behavioral response monitoring, and large-scale neuronal activity recording. Here, the authors report a fluidics-based toolkit for studying chemosensation in larval zebrafish, and used it to reveal the brainwide neural representations of cadaverine sensing and its binasal input-dependent behavioral avoidance.

Here, the authors show a causal role for gut bacteria-derived metabolites tryptamine and phenethylamine in contributing to insulin resistance and the development of metabolic syndrome in patients with irritable bowel syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

Understating degradation pathways is critical to the development of perovskite photovoltaics. Thiesbrummel et al. show that internal electric field screening induced by ion migration is a dominant contributor to the operational performance loss of perovskite solar cells.

The shape of bird toe pads and foot scales can be used to infer their behaviour. Here, the authors examine fossil evidence of toe pads and scales, in addition to claws and bones, from birds and close relatives, illustrating diverse lifestyles and ecological roles among early theropod flyers.

Although extrapulmonary complications of different organ systems are recognized in patients with severe COVID19 effects are less well studied. Here, Qiao et al. characterize the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 on bone metabolism in Syrian hamster and find that bone loss is associated with virus-mediated cytokine dysregulation.

Thermostable antibodies called SPEARs enable rapid immunostaining with improved tissue penetration.

Single-crystalline perovskite membranes with an ultrahigh dielectric constant show potential as a gate dielectric for two-dimensional field-effect transistors.

Blood–brain barrier dysfunction occurs in ageing and in neurodegenerative diseases. Here, the authors use scRNA-seq to identify transcriptomic changes in endothelial cell subtypes in the aged mouse brain, some of which may generalize to human and can be reversed by treatment with a GLP-1R agonist.

The anti-leprosy drug clofazimine inhibits coronavirus replication in several cell models and shows potent antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 infection in a hamster model, particularly when used in combination with remdesivir.

Impaired wound healing is a serious complication in diabetic patients, and is associated with reduced HIF1α stability. Here, the authors design a small molecule that stabilizes HIF1α by blocking its interaction with VHL and show that it promotes wound healing in mouse models of diabetes.

Obesity increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) especially in men. Here the authors find a potential mechanistic explanation by showing that, in mice, obesity-induced STAT3 cooperates with the androgen receptor to activate the mTORC pathway through up regulation of CCRK, resulting in hepatic steatosis worsening and HCC development via metabolic and immune reprogramming.

Motor commands for human locomotion are generated by combination of muscle synergies. In humans, muscle synergies for running exhibit considerable plasticity during child-to-adult development and adult training to meet the constantly changing biomechanical and efficiency demands.

Cancer cells rely on macropinocytosis to scavenge extracellular proteins for growth. Here the authors show that macropinocytosis supports the survival of hypoxic hepatocellular carcinoma cells and this is dependent on HIF-1, which in turns activates the transcription of a membrane ruffling protein, EH domain-containing protein 2.

Miller et al. present a disassociated rhamphotheca of a Cretaceous bird, which sheds light on the diet and developmental biology of some of the earliest birds. Exceptionally preserved fossils are rare but when soft tissue is preserved it can provide insight into the anatomy and behavior of extinct organisms.

Electric contacts of semimetallic bismuth on monolayer semiconductors are shown to suppress metal-induced gap states and thus have very low contact resistance and a zero Schottky barrier height.

Cheung, Zhang et al. examine the association between secondhand smoke exposure and changes in the retinal vasculature among children aged 6 to 8, in a population-based cohort study. Children exposed to secondhand smoke have wider retinal arteriolar and venular calibers compared to those in smoke-free homes.

Viruses rely on host cell metabolism for replication, making these pathways potential therapeutic targets. Here, the authors show that AM580, a retinoid derivative and RAR-α agonist, affects replication of several RNA viruses by interfering with the activity of SREBP.

A screen of the ReFRAME library of approximately 12,000 known drugs for antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) identified several candidate compounds with suitable activities and pharmacological profiles, which could potentially expedite the deployment of therapies for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).