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Droplet microlasers are emerging as powerful tools for label-free biosensing. Here, the authors demonstrate a new method for creating liquid photonic-molecule microlasers that combine low lasing threshold and enhanced sensitivity, achieving biomolecular detection limit down to attoMolar level.

Millions of urban commuters experience daily exposure to subway air. This study characterizes the microscopic properties and formation mechanisms of airborne iron-oxide nanoparticles in subway air, detects their presence in human lungs and confirms their role in mouse pulmonary injury.

While neoadjuvant chemotherapy can improve outcomes in patients with esophageal squamous carcinoma, resistance often develops. Here, the authors identify elevated INCENP and CDCA8 via YTHDF3 mediated translation as markers of poor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in esophageal squamous carcinoma.

Genome evolutionary history of wild Arachis species remains unclear. Here, the authors report the origin of small chromosome A08 and genome evolution of Arachis species via comparative oligopainting and genomic analysis of A. hoehnei.

Using ancient DNA, isotopes and proteomics, this work reveals social inequality and mobility in Eastern Zhou China, showing female sacrifices, dietary disparities across classes, kinship networks among elites, and rare evidence of social mobility.

Tumor-associated macrophages play central roles in the cellular immune response in the tumor microenvironment. Here the authors implicate the m6A methyltransferase METTL3 in glioma progression by regulation of the ISG15/FASN modulated lipid metabolism in macrophage.

Stone tools illustrate behavioural complexities in Middle Pleistocene hominin populations. Here, the authors present small dimensional flakes and hafted tools from Xigou, central China, dated to ~160–72 thousand years ago that demonstrate early, complex technological advancements.

Researchers found that enhancing the NUT1-Exo70A1 module that governs xylem development can improve maize hydraulic conductivity and water-use efficiency, thereby increasing grain yield. This offers a promising strategy for ensuring food security.

The authors found esterified pectin localized at the stiff poles of maize stomata, modulating stomatal opening. These results reveal novel targets for stomatal engineering and breeding crops with higher water use efficiency.

An artificial intelligence-driven robotic chemist that integrates generative machine-learning models incorporating spectroscopic descriptors with automated experimentation is developed, enabling the inverse design of high-entropy catalysts and offering a generalizable strategy for the design of diverse complex materials.

Dongxin Lin, Philip Taylor, Li-Dong Wang and colleagues have now pooled three genome-wide association analyses of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, finding two new risk loci at genome-wide significance and an HLA class II locus of significance in high-risk populations. They reanalyze the strength of evidence for previously published risk loci.

Hydropower dams fragment rivers and degrade habitats, increasing extinction risk for freshwater species, with over 85% of species showing status changes moving to higher threat categories, based on Global Dam Tracker and IUCN Red List data from 1996 to 2022.

There is strong evidence that cervical cancer screening with high-risk oncogenic human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) testing is more effective for the prevention of precancer and cancer than cervical cytology. Here, the authors show that HPV testing as a primary screening method provides reliable clinical performance for both cross-sectional and longitudinal cervical screening in accordance with Chinese guidelines.

High mobility group A1 (HMGA1) has been identified to play a role in tumour progression but its involvement in anti-tumour immunity of esophagael squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. Here the authors report that the inhibition of STING-mediated anti-tumour immunity by HMGA1 results in promotion of ESCC tumorigenesis.

Enantioselective dicarbofunctionalization of alkenes is a powerful strategy for constructing functionalized sp³-rich molecules. Here, the authors report a palladium-catalyzed asymmetric migratory process that enables highly selective 1,3- and 1,4- diarylation of unactivated trisubstituted alkenes.

Bacteria in the same environment can share genetic material but the extent to which this influences development of antimicrobial resistance is unclear. Here, the authors investigate the evidence for co-evolution of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria found coexisting in animals and the environment in chicken farms and slaughterhouses in China.

In this study, Yang et al. compile a global dataset to uncover the degree to which plants coordinate root and seed traits. They report a global positive correlation between root diameter and seed size, driven by dual roles of arbuscular mycorrhiza in phosphorus uptake and pathogen defence.

A non-coplanar axially chiral molecular contact favours the crystalline growth of perovskite film and improves interfacial stability in perovskite solar cells. Small-area devices yield a certified power conversion efficiency of 26.44% and maintain 98% of it after 2,000 hours of operation.

Type 2 diabetes is an established risk factor for dementia. Here, the authors use data from 33,136 older Chinese adults to show that polygenic risk for type 2 diabetes was associated with vascular dementia but not Alzheimer’s disease.

External stimulus-induced cellular stress response plays a role in the development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Here the authors show that stress-induced activation of p38 MAPK leads to ACSL4 phosphorylation and Src myristoylation to promote tumorigenesis in ESCC.

Glioma is a complex disease, and prognosis can depend on clinical, genomic and radiological information. Here, the authors develop a multimodal fusion subtyping model to integrate data modalities for predicting glioma subtypes.

A new Bayesian framework for analysing gravitational-wave ringdown signals from black holes speeds up multi-mode inference, enhancing rapid and statistically robust tests of strong gravity.

ACC1 loss in ESCC promotes metastasis by enhancing histone acetylation and activating c-Fos/CXCL8, driving EMT, neutrophil recruitment, and NET formation, highlighting the ACC1–CXCL8–NET axis as a prognostic and therapeutic target.

Understanding the molecular changes in the transition from esophageal squamous precancerous lesions (ESPL) to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains essential. Here, the authors analyze ESPL samples using spatial transcriptomics and reveal expression changes in TAGLN2 and CRNN during progression to ESCC.