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Experimental demonstration of quantum speedup that scales with the system size is the goal of near-term quantum computing. Here, the authors demonstrate such scaling advantage for a D-Wave quantum annealer over analogous classical algorithms in simulations of frustrated quantum magnets.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Whether multimorbidity accelerates brain Aβ deposition in humans remains largely unknown. Here, the authors demonstrate that higher self-reported multimorbidity burden predicts increased brain Aβ accumulation rates in the ADNI cohort.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Genomic studies often lack representation from diverse populations, limiting equitable insights. Here, the authors show that the BIG Initiative captures extensive genetic diversity and reveals ancestry-linked health disparities in a community-based Mid-South cohort.

Using a quantum annealing processor to study three-dimensional spin glasses demonstrates an accurate large-scale quantum simulation of critical dynamics and a scaling advantage over analogous classical methods for energy optimization.

Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is a complex multi-factorial disorder. Here, the authors perform a data-driven analysis of LOAD progression, including multimodal brain imaging, plasma and CSF biomarkers, and find vascular dysfunction is among the earliest and strongest altered events.

Genome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in ancestrally diverse populations implicate candidate causal genes and mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes. Trans-ancestry genetic risk scores enhance transferability across populations.

The authors summarize the data produced by phase III of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, a resource for better understanding of the human and mouse genomes.

Global riverine carbon export to the ocean may exceed previous estimates, underscoring the important role of riverine carbon to the carbon budget, according to a multi-model ensemble assessment constrained by a global dataset.

Type III CRISPR-Cas systems recognize and cleave target RNAs and produce signalling molecules. Here the authors discover that both processes are governed by a flexible seed region, ultimately resulting in SCOPE, a SARSCoV-2 diagnostic assay with atto-molar sensitivity.

Systematic characterization of longitudinal tau variability in human Alzheimer’s disease using an unbiased subtyping algorithm reveals four trajectories of tau deposition with distinct clinical features.

 A transcriptomic cell-type atlas of the whole adult mouse brain with ~5,300 clusters built from single-cell and spatial transcriptomic datasets with more than eight million cells reveals remarkable cell type diversity across the brain and unique cell type characteristics of different brain regions. 

An ice-core record from the northeastern Antarctic Peninsula shows that the present warming period in the region is unusual in the context of natural climate variability over the past two thousand years, and that continued warming could cause ice-shelf instability farther south along the peninsula.

Whole-genome sequencing and phenotype data sharing are introduced in a national health system to streamline diagnosis and to discover coding and non-coding variants that cause rare diseases.

A catalogue of predicted loss-of-function variants in 125,748 whole-exome and 15,708 whole-genome sequencing datasets from the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD) reveals the spectrum of mutational constraints that affect these human protein-coding genes.

Whether Alzheimer’s disease originates in basal forebrain or entorhinal cortex remains highly debated. Here the authors use structural magnetic resonance data from a longitudinal sample of participants stratified by cerebrospinal biomarker and clinical diagnosis to show that tissue volume changes appear earlier in the basal forebrain than in the entorhinal cortex.

Structural analysis of Cas12a2, a CRISPR-associated nuclease that nonspecifically cleaves ssRNA, ssDNA and dsDNA, reveals a complete activation pathway involved in the abortive infection system protecting cells against invasion.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Using samples from the Danish Neonatal Screening Biobank, children with ASD and children with ADHD were found to have similar, significantly increased rates of rare protein-truncating variants in evolutionarily constrained genes.

NSAID-induced analgesia is typically induced by inhibition of COX enzymes. Here the authors show instead that fenamate NSAIDs inhibit the Nlrp3 inflammasome via an effect on volume-regulated anion channel function and also repurpose these drugs for therapeutic effect in rodent models of Alzheimer disease.

A kagome lattice spin-ice system is created with the superconducting qubits of a quantum annealer, and shown to exhibit a field-induced kinetic crossover between spin-liquid phases. Specifically, kinetics within both the Ice-I phase and the unconventional field-induced Ice-II phase are  presented.

The authors defined a roadmap for investigating the genetic covariance between structural or functional brain phenotypes and risk for psychiatric disorders. Their proof-of-concept study using the largest available common variant data sets for schizophrenia and volumes of several (mainly subcortical) brain structures did not find evidence of genetic overlap.

Results of the TRACERx study shed new light into the association between body composition and body weight with survival in individuals with non-small cell lung cancer, and delineate potential biological processes and mediators contributing to the development of cancer-associated cachexia.

A dataset of coding variation, derived from exome sequencing of nearly one million individuals from a range of ancestries, provides insight into rare variants and could accelerate the discovery of disease-associated genes and advance precision medicine efforts.

Vaccines for SARS-COV-2 are needed in the ongoing pandemic. Here the authors characterize a vaccine candidate that presents the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein on a synthetic VLP platform using SpyTag/SpyCatcher technology and show immunogenicity of a prime-boost regimen in mice and pigs.

In Alzheimer’s disease (AD) tau and neurodegeneration have complex regional relationships. Here, the authors show neuronal hypometabolism discordant with tau burden defines functional resilience or susceptibility to Alzheimer’s pathology via limbic/cortical axes. Susceptible groups have faster cognitive decline and evidence of non-Alzheimer’s pathologies.

Stroke is a multifactorial disease influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Here, the authors apply exome-wide association analysis to find rare coding variants associated with stroke in a Pakistani cohort, finding a significant association of a variant in NOTCH3 that is highly enriched in South Asians.

Comprehensive integration of gene expression with epigenetic features is needed to understand the transition of kidney cells from health to injury. Here, the authors integrate dual single nucleus RNA expression and chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation, and histone modifications to decipher the chromatin landscape of the kidney in reference and adaptive injury cell states, identifying a transcription factor network of ELF3, KLF6, and KLF10 which regulates adaptive repair and maladaptive failed repair.

Alzheimer’s disease is heterogeneous in its neuroimaging and clinical phenotypes. Here the authors present a semi-supervised deep learning method, Smile-GAN, to show four neurodegenerative patterns and two progression pathways providing prognostic and clinical information.

Genome-wide analysis identifies 30 loci associated with bipolar disorder, allowing for comparisons of shared genes and pathways with other psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and depression.

Bone tissue is a complex organic-inorganic nanocomposite and strategies that replicate the characteristics of bone tissue are scarce. Here the authors demonstrate the deposition of nanoscale apatite in collagen embedded with mesenchymal, vascular and nerve cells, using a protein-guided biomineralization approach.

Temozolomide therapy seems to lead to mismatch repair deficiency and hypermutation in gliomas, but not to an increase in response to immunotherapy.

Alzheimer’s disease has been associated with increased structural brain aging. Here the authors describe a model that predicts brain aging from resting state functional connectivity data, and demonstrate this is accelerated in individuals with pre-clinical familial Alzheimer’s disease.

Genotype and exome sequencing of 150,000 participants and whole-genome sequencing of 9,950 selected individuals recruited into the Mexico City Prospective Study constitute a valuable, publicly available resource of non-European sequencing data.

Anterior Uveitis is a common inflammatory eye disease that can result in vision loss. Here, the authors perform GWAS and whole-exome analyses of Anterior Uveitis to identify the underlying genetics of HLA-B*27 positive and negative forms of the disease.

After upregulation of AHR in astrocytes by type I interferons, commensal-microbe-derived metabolites of dietary tryptophan act on astrocytes to suppress CNS inflammation.

An exome-wide association study of six smoking phenotypes in up to 749,459 individuals identifies associations of rare coding variants in CHRNB2 that may reduce the likelihood of smoking.

Sun et al. report human lifespan changes in the brain’s functional connectome in 33,250 individuals, which highlights critical growth milestones and distinct maturation patterns and offers a normative reference for development, aging and diseases.