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Recent work reported a non-local quantum entangled state of photons with skyrmionic topology. Here the authors demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that topological properties of this system are resilient to noise, even as entanglement measures decay, and elucidate the mechanisms behind this robustness.

That Brownian particles in a liquid move diffusively at long times but ballistically at very short times has been understood for more than a century. However, the full details of the transition between these regimes are yet to be explored. Now, the transition from ballistic to diffusive Brownian motion has been measured for the first time.

Concerns over the immunogenicity of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) are growing, and the implications for tissue engineering are unknown. Here the authors evaluate the impact of anti-PEG antibodies and PEG immunogenicity on the efficacy of a PEG hydrogel-based tissue engineering therapy.

Rare Mendelian disorders pose a major diagnostic challenge, but evaluation of automated tools that aim to uncover causal genes tools is limited. Here, the authors present a computational pipeline that simulates realistic clinical datasets to address this deficit.

High-throughput molecular genotyping tools have been used for genomic surveillance of Plasmodium falciparum but tools available for P. vivax are limited. Here, the authors develop a molecular inversion probe panel for P. vivax and use it to characterise the molecular epidemiology of samples from the Peruvian Amazon Basin.

A data interface that is based on complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology can provide wireless data transfer between cryogenic and room temperature, and minimize the heat-to-information transfer ratio.

The clinical management of metastatic melanoma requires predictors of the response to checkpoint blockade. Here, the authors use immunological assays to identify potential prognostic/predictive biomarkers in circulating blood cells and in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from patients with resected stage III melanoma.

Biological catch bonds counter-intuitively strengthen when pulled. Here, the authors present tuneable artificial catch bonds made from DNA for the study of biomimetic adhesion and the creation of force-strengthening materials.

Here, the authors compare the diversity of vascular plants found in community science observations and digitized herbarium specimens, finding that with only one-third the records, herbaria still capture more data by several metrics.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

Climate change is impacting mountain regions and the agricultural livelihood of residents, and will continue to do so. In this study, the authors survey farmers in ten African mountain regions to understand their perceptions of climate change impacts and identify adaptation opportunities and constraints.

Analysis of lower respiratory tract microbiome of mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients rules out a role for secondary respiratory infections as drivers of increased mortality.

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in both social and nonsocial reward-related behaviors, yet it is unclear if the same mPFC neurons represent both types of rewards. Combining a social-sucrose operant assay with calcium imaging and optogenetics, the authors show that largely non-overlapping neurons represent social and sucrose rewards in the mPFC.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

Northern tree populations may not benefit under climate change, with implications for assisted migration and range expansion. Here, Isaac-Renton et al. show that leading-edge lodgepole pine populations have fewer characteristics of drought-tolerance, so may not adapt to tolerate drier conditions.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

The Weyl potential provides a direct way of testing the theory of gravity and the validity of the ΛCDM model. Here, the authors show Weyl potential measured at four redshifts bins and find that the measured values in the two lowest bins are in mild tension with the ΛCDM predictions.

A study leveraging transsynaptic tracing demonstrates rapid and extensive integration of human glioblastoma organoids into the mouse brain.

In the field of multiferroic thin films, attaining low-temperature epitaxy has been a long-standing problem. In this work, authors propose a pathway to significantly reduce the BiFeO₃ thin film growth temperature using the BaBiPbO₃ template.

Fine-scale geospatial mapping of overweight and wasting (two components of the double burden of malnutrition) in 105 LMICs shows that overweight has increased from 5.2% in 2000 to 6.0% in children under 5 in 2017. Although overall wasting decreased over the same period, most countries are not on track to meet the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

Authors perform an analysis of the patient data and risk factors to evaluate unfavorable outcomes and adverse events in adults with pulmonary tuberculosis treated with a 4-month rifapentine based regimen. Low rifapentine exposure was the most clinically significant risk factor for treatment failure and tuberculosis relapse.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

Acute tubular injury (ATI) significantly contributes to many kidney diseases. Here, the authors identify several immune response and cellular stress plasma proteins linked to ATI severity and acute kidney injury, which may aid in non-invasive ATI assessment.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

Using natural language processing and computational modeling, this study finds distinctions among disorganized thinking, disinhibition through expression and deliberate creativity, which are differentially associated with eccentricity and suspiciousness dimensions of psychopathology.

La-substitution in BiFeO₃ enables an electric field-driven conversion of a multi-domain into a single ferroelectric domain accompanied by a single variant spin cycloid. A single domain multiferroic generates 400% larger non-local inverse spin Hall voltage at the output.

There is growing need for ways to slow or prevent Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, the authors demonstrate that a low protein diet can protect against metabolic dysfunction, slow AD progression, and preserve cognitive function in a mouse model of AD.

Glutathione has pleiotropic functions in different organs. Here the authors specifically examine deletion of a glutathione synthetic enzyme in the liver of adult mice and show that lack of glutathione affects lipid abundance through repressing NRF2.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

All cells are encapsulated by a membrane of complex lipidic composition, and understanding the roles of different lipids in membrane function is experimentally challenging to address. Here, Justice et al. present an approach to minimize and tune the membrane lipid composition in a ‘minimal’ bacterial cell, revealing that two lipid species can support life.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.