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A genome-wide association study meta-analysis combined with multiomics data of osteoarthritis identifies 700 effector genes as well as biological processes with a convergent involvement of multiple effector genes; 10% of these genes express the target of approved drugs.

Deep-learning models for the automated measurement of retinal-vessel calibre in retinal photographs perform comparably to or better than expert graders in associations of measurements of retinal-vessel calibre with cardiovascular risk factors.

The ability to identify antibodies circulating in the bloodstream would advance immunology and vaccinology research and the development of therapeutics. Cheung et al. couple proteomics with next-generation sequencing of RNA from B cells to clone antibodies directly from the sera of immunized rabbits and mice.

In this work, authors utilise genome-wide CRISPRi screening to identify vulnerabilities in isoniazid-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

A bulky residue in the stem domain of the influenza virus H2 hemagglutinin appears pivotal in eliciting broadly cross-reactive antibodies capable of recognizing diverse group 1 influenza subtypes and is informative for universal influenza vaccine development.

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

Use of an enhanced suite of marine ecosystem models and Earth system model outputs from Phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) reveals greater decline in mean global ocean animal biomass than previously projected under both strong-mitigation and high-emissions scenarios.

Here the authors describe a simple reverse genetics method that relies on overlapping cDNA fragments for generation of positive-strand viruses including SARS-CoV-2 and characterize them in vitro and in vivo.

The transient reactivation of ETV2 in adult human endothelial cells reprograms these cells to become adaptable vasculogenic endothelia that in three-dimensional matrices self-assemble into vascular networks that can transport blood and physiologically arborize organoids and decellularized tissues.

Extracellular microinterfaces provide cells with migration tracks in vivo. Here, the authors introduce these microtracks into bicontinuous hydrogels to elicit rapid cell migration in 3-dimensional contexts.

Gorman et al. designed a Lassa virus prefusion-stabilized soluble glycoprotein complex trimer (GPC), with which they identified a Lassa virus-neutralizing nanobody that bound the GPC apex and elicited neutralizing antibody responses in guinea pigs.

Ghajar and colleagues report that astrocyte-deposited laminin-211 promotes the quiescence of disseminated tumor cells in the brain, in a manner dependent on the cytoplasmic sequestration of YAP by dystroglycan.

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.

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.

Cortex morphology varies with age, cognitive function, and in neurological and psychiatric diseases. Here the authors report 160 genome-wide significant associations with thickness, surface area and volume of the total cortex and 34 cortical regions from a GWAS meta-analysis in 22,824 adults.

Brown and colleagues generated an atlas of miRNA expression profiles from primary mouse immune cell populations and connected these signatures with ATAC–seq, ChIP–seq and nascent RNA profiles to establish a map of miRNA promoter and enhancer usage in immune cells.

Genome-wide analysis identifies variants associated with the volume of seven different subcortical brain regions defined by magnetic resonance imaging. Implicated genes are involved in neurodevelopmental and synaptic signaling pathways.

Antibodies are a primary tool to assess histone post-translational modifications. However, different antibodies and batches might vary in their ability to recognize those modifications, depending on the kind of assay used. Now a systematic analysis of different antibodies and an open database containing the validation results are presented.

Although the gain in chromosome 17q21-ter is commonly associated with neuroblastoma, it is not clear which gene of this region mediates tumorigenesis. Here, the authors are showing that JMJD6, which locates in that region, is a neuroblastoma tumorigenic factor.

The rare loss-of-function allele p.Arg138* in SLC30A8 (encoding ZnT8) mediates protection against type 2 diabetes (T2D) through promoting better insulin secretion and enhanced glucose responsiveness, suggesting ZnT8 as a target for T2D treatment.

A high-throughput screen identified a small molecule that promoted inclusion of SMN2 exon 7, increased SMN2 protein levels and extended survival in a SMA mouse model through stabilization of the interaction between SMN2 pre-mRNA and U1 snRNP complex.

Conformation-specific antibodies and longitudinal tracking of individual neurons in situ identifies a toxic monomer species linked to Huntington's disease.

Adipose tissue varies depending on localization. Vijay et al. perform single-cell RNA sequencing in multiple adipose tissue depots from obese individuals and identify distinct subpopulations of endothelial cells, immune cells and pre-adipocytes.

Combination of epidemiology, preclinical models and ultradeep DNA profiling of clinical cohorts unpicks the inflammatory mechanism by which air pollution promotes lung cancer

The next step after sequencing a genome is to figure out how the cell actually uses it as an instruction manual. A large international consortium has examined 1% of the genome for what part is transcribed, where proteins are bound, what the chromatin structure looks like, and how the sequence compares to that of other organisms.

BayesSpace increases the resolution of spatial transcriptomics by using neighborhood information.

Defective thymic egress in mice is associated with the peripheral T cell deficiency (Ptcd) locus. Cyster and colleagues find that the actin regulator coronin 1A is mutant in Ptcd and in an atypical patient with SCID.

enGene has developed a proprietary nonviral gene delivery platform and Gene Pill technology to deliver orally administered gene therapies to mucosal tissues, creating new opportunities for treating hard-to-reach tissues across many indications.

enGene has developed a proprietary nonviral gene delivery platform and Gene Pill technology to deliver orally administered gene therapies to mucosal tissues, creating new opportunities for treating hard-to-reach tissues across many indications.

Little is known about the biology of back pain, a leading cause of disability. Here the authors report 30 new back pain loci, implicating genes involved in cartilage/bone biology, as well as neurological and inflammatory processes.

A randomized trial in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 showed no benefit and potentially increased harm associated with the use of convalescent plasma, with subgroup analyses suggesting that the antibody profile in donor plasma is critical in determining clinical outcomes.

Yuan and colleagues developed an artificial intelligence-based method to derive growth patterns and morphological features from hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides of lung adenocarcinoma samples, for improved tumor grading and patient prognostication.

Executive functions are affected by ageing but it is unclear how. Kievit et al.use brain imaging and modelling approaches to show how multifactorial explanations outperform single-factor models when relating age-related differences in grey and white matter to differences in fluid intelligence and multitasking.

Cognitive abilities change with age, but why some decline and some do not is not clear. Here, the authors use data from the Cam-CAN cohort to show that distributed, multi-component brain responsivity and default-mode deactivation supports and characterizes preserved cognition across the adult lifespan.

Alterations of locus coeruleus signal intensity have been associated with functional changes in health and disease. Here, the authors tested a pre-registered hypothesis on a large number of subjects as part of the Cam-CAN consortium.