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The pan-genome of 17 wheat cultivars grown in China is explored, providing insights into the breeding history of wheat in East Asia.

Neuromorphic memory devices are modelled on biological design and open up new possibilities in computing. Here, the authors report the use of a nickelate as a channel material in a three-terminal device, controllable by varying stoichiometry in situvia ionic liquid gating.

Exploring the promiscuity of native enzymes is a promising strategy for expanding their synthetic applications. Here, the authors show that old yellow enzymes (OYEs) can facilitate the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction (MBH reaction), leveraging substrate similarities between MBH reaction and reduction, and engineer GkOYE.8 with no reduction activity, but enhanced MBH activity.

Diarrhoea is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in China. Here, the authors present results from a large sentinel surveillance scheme from 217 hospitals in all 31 provinces in mainland China, including ~150,000 patients with acute diarrhoea and covering years 2009-2018.

Xuejun Zhang and colleagues report a genome-wide association and replication studies for psoriasis, conducted in Chinese populations. They confirm previous associations in MHC and IL12B to psoriasis susceptibility, and report a new association within the LCE gene cluster at 1q21.

Cu-based catalysts are widely considered to be effective materials for H₂ production via methanol steam reforming. Herein, the authors explore a series of catalysts containing Cu⁰−Cu⁺ dual sites for facilitating C-H bond breaking and H₂ evolution.

Inositol hexaphosphates (InsP6) are ubiquitous in eukaryotes and regulates a plethora of cellular functions. Here the authors identify a set of receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases that work in concert with 14-3-3- proteins to regulate InsP6 synthesis and accumulation and Pi homeostasis in Arabidopsis.

The role of the tumor microenvironment in immunotherapy response in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma remains unclear. Here, single cell RNA and TCR sequencing of samples before and after immunotherapy highlights the role of CD8 T-cell status conversion and exhaustion induced by Macro CD5L+ in treatment response.

Enones are privileged structural motifs in bioactive natural products and pharmaceuticals, but the γ-hydroxylation of enones is challenging. Here, the authors report on a mild and efficient method for the direct C(sp3)–H hydroxylation of enones via visible-light-induced hydrogen-atom transfer, without the need for a metal and peroxide.

Deep metagenomic sequencing and characterization of the human gut microbiome from healthy and obese individuals, as well as those suffering from inflammatory bowel disease, provide the first insights into this gene set and how much of it is shared among individuals. The minimal gut metagenome as well as the minimal gut bacterial genome is also described.

John Chambers and colleagues identify common variants at four loci associated with serum creatinine levels, a marker of kidney function. Their findings provide insight into the pathways underlying susceptibility to chronic kidney disease.

While platinum is a highly active catalyst for H₂ evolution, its low abundance prompts research into earth-abundant alternatives. Here, authors prepare tungsten atomic clusters on phosphorus doped carbon by thermal migration and demonstrate excellent activities for hydrogen evolution electrocatalysis.

Carbon dioxide hydrogenation is an important industrial reaction. Here, the authors design a CeCuZn catalyst through a metal organic framework template for CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol with excellent methanol yield and stability.

Iron deficiency is the leading cause of anaemia and is known to compromise immune function. Here, the authors identify several new genes associated with iron status in European populations and provide insight into how iron levels may be linked to the risk of metabolic disease.

In Arabidopsis, microRNAs control the transition from juvenile to adult states. The study, using genomic, genetic and molecular approaches, investigates how miR156 and miR157 are re-activated at each generation.

A genome-wide association study of critically ill patients with COVID-19 identifies genetic signals that relate to important host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage that may be targeted by repurposing drug treatments.

Tunable afterglow emission in the visible region is enabled by trap-induced persistent luminescence in organic host–guest materials, with controllable trap depths.

Implantation-associated infections often lead to infections. Here, the authors propose a piezo-based nanoreactor to achieve US-excited tandem catalysis, endowing the polyetherketoneketone bone scaffold with on-demand antibacterial and osteogenic capacities.

The RIG-I like receptors sense RNA viruses and initiate antiviral immunity. Here the authors screen 375 definite ubiquitin ligases and propose UBR5 promotes RLR transcription by disengaging the TRIM28-imposed brake on the RLR promoters.

John Chambers, Jaspal Kooner, Pim van der Harst, Shyong Tai, Paul Elliott, Jiang He, Norihiro Kato and colleagues performed a genome-wide association study of blood pressure phenotypes in individuals of European, East Asian and South Asian ancestry. They find trait-associated SNPs at 12 loci, some of which are associated with methylation at nearby CpG sites.

Discrete metal–organic polyhedra are usually prepared from metal ions and organic linkers by a direct self-assembly approach in solution. Now, using the polyhedra themselves as starting materials, it has been shown that a wider variety of structures can be obtained through the partial or complete substitution of their linkers.

The emergence of tumour adaptive radioresistance can limit the success of radiation therapy and immunotherapy in breast cancer. In this study, the authors demonstrate that CD47 and HER2 are coordinating in tumor response to radiation and that co-blockage of both receptors can eliminate radiorestistant breast cancer cells.

The mechanisms underlying sex differences in response to stress are unclear. Here, the authors show that meningeal lymphatics dysfunction modulates the sex difference in the stress susceptibility to depression- and anxiety-like behaviours in mice.

Hematopoietic stem cells are difficult to maintain in vitro, hampering their clinical use. Jian Huang et al. show that mouse and human hematopoietic stem cells can be maintained in culture in the absence of exogenous cytokines by combined treatment with agents that activate Wnt and inhibit mTOR signaling, two major signaling pathways implicated in stem cell homeostasis. Moreover, treatment with two such compounds used clinically increases the number of hematopoietic stem cells in mice in vivo.

The authors realize low-pressure-driven polarization switching in PbTiO₃ membranes by leveraging their structural tunability and substrate elasticity, enabling ferroelectric field-effect transistors on silicon, operatable mechanically and electrically.

The use of activating and directing groups can dramatically alter the course of a reaction. Now, it has been shown that an azo group can effectively perform as both in chiral phosphoric-acid catalysed formal nucleophilic aromatic substitution of azobenzene derivatives with indoles, affording axially chiral arylindoles with excellent enantioselectivities.

Solid-phase synthesis strategy is promising for fabricating desired complex metal nanoparticles on supports. Here, the authors synthesize CoFe@FeOx core-shell nanoparticles as the separator coatings via precise solid-phase method which effectively regulates polysulfides for lithium/ sodium-sulfur batteries.

Gene discovery and polygenic predictions from a genome-wide association study of educational attainment in 1.1 million individuals.

Interactions between chromatin and nuclear components and whether these interactions affect development is not well understood. Here the authors show inner nuclear protein Matrin-3 (Matr3) loss leads to accelerated erythroid maturation, and that Matr3 is involved in chromosomal structure organization and compartmentalization to negatively regulate cell differentiation.

Green synthesis of graphite is a great challenge in the absence of the graphitization of amorphous carbon at high temperatures. Here, the authors report a green approach of synthesizing graphite from carbon dioxide at low temperature in seconds timescale.

A molecular beacon engineered to be activated by the enzyme apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 in inflammatory cells enables the specific and sensitive optical detection of inflammation in live mice.

Here the authors describe a stabilization technology that engineers crosslinks between tyrosine sidechains into a natively folded vaccine immunogen and show that immunogenicity is improved in small animal models by locking the most potently neutralizing epitopes.

Understanding ion transport mechanisms in confined environments is key to achieving efficient membrane-based ion separation. Here, the authors regulate the ion affinity and dehydration in metal-organic framework sub-nanochannels and achieve a high-precise mono-/di-valent cation separation.

Ruth Loos and colleagues report results of a large genome-wide association study for body mass index. They identify 18 new loci associated with this trait, some of which map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance.

Phase engineering of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides enables the investigation of emerging physical properties. Here, the authors report a phase selective in-plane heteroepitaxial method to grow semiconducting H-phase CrSe₂ thin films from MoSe₂ nanoribbons, showing Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid behaviour in the CrSe₂ mirror twin boundaries.

Structures of the yeast replisome associated with the FACT complex and an evicted histone hexamer offer insights into the mechanism of replication-coupled histone recycling for maintaining epigenetic inheritance.

An efficient and cost-effective Mg/Li separation process is necessary for lithium extraction from Salt Lake brines. Inspired by the mangroves, authors developed a direct lithium extraction method from Salt Lake brines through the synergistic effect of an ion separation membrane and a solar evaporator.

Fe–N–C catalysts are a promising alternative to precious metals in fuel cell cathodes, but they suffer from durability issues. Now, a preparation method is reported that allows increasing the active site density while also improving durability.

Here, the authors identify 200 Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) circRNAs, confirmed in HZ patient tissues. Numerous latency-associated transcripts (VLTs)-like circRNAs (circVLTs_lytic) were found with multiple exons and splice donor sequences that influence formation. circVLTs_lytic RNAs are non-essential for VZV replication but affect ACV sensitivity.

Cyprinids fish species contain multiple subgenomes as a result of past duplications. Here, Xu et al. report new genomes of 21 cyprinid fish and conclude that observed subgenome dominance patterns are likely due to both maternal dominance and transposable element densities in each polyploid.

The extracellular domain of the cell wall protein LtaS is an insulin-binding protein and mediates insulin resistance during Staphylococcus aureus infection.

HER2-targeting peptide-based micelles transform into nanofibrils on binding to HER2 on cancer cells, triggering cancer cell apoptosis and tumour death in vivo.

Minimally invasive drug delivery is of wide interest and oral tissue is an attractive target for this. Here, the authors report on the creation of mussel-inspired films for retention on the wet oral tissue for the delivery of drugs by diffusion and transport though the mucosal tissue.

Superconducting (SC) gap of elemental yttrium under extreme pressure conditions was directly probed via the point-contact spectroscopy (PCS) in a diamond anvil cell. Strong enhancement in the differential conductance near the zero-biased voltage is observed owing to Andreev reflection, a hallmark of superconductivity. Taken together with the large initial slope of the upper critical field, the large SC gap-to-T_c ratio suggests that Y belongs to a family of the strongly coupled BCS superconductors.

Porous coordination polymers that possess structural flexibility show great promise for gas adsorption and catalysis. Here the authors synthesize a dynamic porous coordination polymer with rotating ligands that permit effective CO₂ trapping, and demonstrate subsequent CO₂ cycloaddition to epoxides.