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The scope of Lewis acid catalysis mediated by enzymes is low compared with the range of reactions it drives in organic synthesis. Now the substitution of the iron centre with copper, and the subsequent directed evolution, enabled a non-haem iron hydroxylase to efficiently catalyse asymmetric abiotic Conia-ene cyclizations.

Tetrel bonds are noncovalent interactions between electron donors and group 14 elements; in these situations, C(sp3) atoms can act as Lewis acids, accepting electron density. Here, the authors show that methyl groups, when bound to atoms less electronegative than carbon, can participate in noncovalent interactions as electron density donors.

In recent years, the catalytic activity of scandium triflate Sc(OTf)3 has attracted significant attention due to its robust Lewis acidity and the oxophilicity of Sc3 + . Here, the authors demonstrate different reactivity of the same compound, that Sc(OTf)3 is a visible light photocatalyst capable of direct and mild aerobic oxidative C–H functionalization.

Rakesh et al. used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development cohort study to evaluate the relationship between state-level income inequality, brain structure and function, and mental health in young people.

Due to racial stereotypes, innocuous objects (e.g. a tool) can be misperceived as a gun when presented immediately after a Black individual’s face. Here, the authors examine the neural basis of this effect, showing that neural response patterns to tools in visual perception regions become more similar to those typically elicited by guns, contributing to racially biased responding.

Distinguishing between different proteins that each bind to the same type of glycan is challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate that an enzymatically synthesised library of Lewis^x ‘glycofluoroforms’ that feature site-specific fluorination can discriminate closely related proteins.

Yamazoe et al. show that B cell-derived autoantibodies contribute to the development of atrial fibrillation, suggesting that targeting the humoral immune response may represent a viable therapeutic approach.

Analysis combining multiple global tree databases reveals that whether a location is invaded by non-native tree species depends on anthropogenic factors, but the severity of the invasion depends on the native species diversity.

A two-phase machine-learning-based tool making use of high-throughput experimentation is introduced to examine the connections between chemical and protein sequence space and predict productive biocatalytic reactions among substrate and enzyme pairs.

A study of several longitudinal birth cohorts and cross-sectional cohorts finds only moderate overlap in genetic variants between autism that is diagnosed earlier and that diagnosed later, so they may represent aetiologically different conditions.

The development of robust quasi-ohmic contact with minimal resistance, exceptional stability and cost-effectiveness is crucial for practical application of perovskite solar cells. Here, authors report a polymer-acid-metal structure as the contact and realize long photo-thermal-operational stability.

Asymmetric catalytic photoelectrochemical reactions for the construction of complex compounds are underdeveloped. Now, merging photoelectrochemistry with asymmetric catalysis has enabled the dehydrogenative [2 + 2] photocycloaddition between alkyl ketones and alkenes affording enantioenriched cyclobutanes.

The social exposome—lifelong social and economic adversity—can shape brain health and dementia risk. Here, the authors show that an adverse social exposome is linked to poorer clinical, cognitive, and brain changes in Latin American older adults.

Optimizing devices for electrochemical CO₂ reduction requires a comprehensive and quantitative understanding of the microenvironments where the reactions occur. Now, a multiscale modelling approach that explicitly accounts for electrolyte effects at all scales is developed and showcased for the electroreduction of CO₂ on silver.

For asymmetric catalysis, chiral cobalt catalysts have garnered considerable attention, but there remains an absence of reactive chiral cobalt catalysts constructed exclusively from achiral ligands. Herein, the authors report a reactive chiral-at-cobalt catalyst comprised entirely of achiral ligands, and its application in visible-light-activated enantioselective transformation of isoxazoles into chiral 2H-azirines.

Different pathogens induce different cytokine production via the C-type lectin DC-SIGN. Geijtenbeek and colleagues show that distinct carbohydrates on the pathogen surface induce the assembly and use of distinct DC-SIGN signaling complexes.

The reversible N–H activation and catalytic transformations of ammonia are a challenge. Now, a hidden frustrated Lewis pair is shown to activate non-aqueous ammonia thermoneutrally and split the N–H bond reversibly at ambient temperature. The N–H-activated ammonia was also utilized as an atom-economical nitrogen source for catalytic NH₃ transfer reactions.

A geological, petrographic and geochemical survey of distinctive mudstone and conglomerate outcrops of the Bright Angel formation on Mars reveals textures, chemical and mineral characteristics, and organic signatures that warrant consideration as potential biosignatures.

The authors report a meta-analysis of methylome-wide association studies, identifying 15 significant CpG sites linked to major depression, revealing associations with inflammatory markers and suggesting potential causal relationships through Mendelian randomization analysis.

The carboamination of unsaturated molecules with bifunctional carboamination reagents is considered to be an attractive approach for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing compounds but employing bifunctional C–N reagents in the functionalization of cyclopropane remains underdeveloped. Here the authors present N-heterocyclic carbenes and a photoredox catalyst dualcatalyzed 1,3-aminoacylation of cyclopropane employing N-benzoyl saccharin as a bifunctional reagent.

In this Stage 2 Registered Report, Buchanan et al. show evidence confirming the phenomenon of semantic priming across speakers of 19 diverse languages.

The design and improvement of enzymes based on physical principles remain challenging. Now, the vibrational Stark effect has been used to demonstrate how an electrostatic model can unify the catalytic effects of distinct chemical forces in a quantitative manner and guide the design of enzyme variants that outperform their natural counterpart.

Using well-calibrated statistical methods the authors jointly analyze Undiagnosed Diseases Network genomes, identifying known and novel disease genes. Software is publicly available to support future cross-cohort rare disease discovery efforts.

Protein citrullination regulates the physiological function of proteins and is linked to various autoimmune disorders. Here, the authors report on the allosteric targeting of PAD1-4 leading to broad inhibition of protein citrullination in neutrophils.

A phase 1/2 trial of dual-vector rAAVrh8 gene therapy for GM2 gangliosidosis, administered by bilateral intrathalamic, cisterna magna and intrathecal delivery found a dose-dependent biochemical correction of the disease.

Basic ionic liquids provide a buffering effect that enables the efficient synthesis of free formic acid from CO₂ hydrogenation. Here, a highly efficient catalytic system that transforms CO₂ to formic acid without the need of strong bases is demonstrated, avoiding the formation of formate salts.

Regioselective functionalization of aliphatic carbon–hydrogen bonds is achieved using frustrated radical pairs generated from disilazide donors and an N-oxoammonium acceptor.

Inhibition of cyclooxygenase 1 releases T cells from immunosuppression by platelet-derived thromboxane A₂, thereby enhancing the immune response against metastasis.

A study reports whole-genome sequences for 490,640 participants from the UK Biobank and combines these data with phenotypic data to provide new insights into the relationship between human variation and sequence variation.

McGeachan et al. observe oligomeric tau in synapses from individuals with progressive supranuclear palsy and provide evidence that tau pathology may spread through the brain via synapses.