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Techniques for determining chiral purity are important, but can be challenging to achieve by eye. Here, the authors report the development of dyes with visual chiral recognition capabilities by changes in the coassembly process and therefore variable steric hindrance.

Simultaneous profiling of spatial transcriptomics (ST) and metabolomics (SM) offers a novel way to decode tissue microenvironment heterogeneity. Here, the authors present SpatialMETA, a conditional variational autoencoder-based framework designed for the integration of ST and SM data.

Accurately describing and tuning active sites remains a major challenge. Here, the authors introduce an effective metal-ion chelation strategy—guided by DFT predictions and in situ Raman measurements—to structurally engineer and quantitatively link the electronic properties of active sites in an ionic liquid.

In this Perspective, members of the Aging Biomarker Consortium outline the X-Age Project, an Aging Biomarker Consortium plan for building standardized aging clocks in China. The authors discuss the project roadmap and its aims of decoding aging heterogeneity, detecting accelerated aging early and evaluating geroprotective interventions.

Intestinal motility disorders that can occur following small intestine resection often require regular monitoring. This study reports a biodegradable ultrasound contrast tape (BioUCT) that adheres to the intestine for high-contrast imaging for up to two weeks for non-invasive monitoring of postoperative intestinal motility.

Membraneless organelles formed by liquid–liquid phase separation regulate cellular processes. Here Bai et al. show that mitochondria-associated translation organelles (MATOs) consisting of RNA-binding proteins and translation machinery mediate localized synthesis of mitochondrial proteins to promote mitochondrial health and extend lifespan in worms.

Crystal structures of human CB₁ bound to two cannabinoid agonists reveal key features, including a twin toggle switch and binding pocket reduction, advancing understanding of receptor dynamics and guiding cannabinoid drug design.

Atmospheric dryness is increasing as air temperatures rise because of climate change. This Review explores temporal trends and spatial heterogeneity in global atmospheric dryness and the implications for plant growth, productivity and terrestrial carbon cycling.

Going from model development to a pilot implementation study, a deep learning model shows that acute aortic syndrome can be diagnosed directly from noncontrast CT, increasing accuracy and decreasing time to diagnosis.

In this phase 2 trial, YKYY017, a SARS-CoV-2 membrane fusion inhibitor, was tested against mild to moderate COVID-19. Inhaled YKYY017 at 20 mg produced a numerically higher viral load reduction compared with placebo on Day 4, suggesting potential antiviral activity. Both inhaled 10 mg and 20 mg YKYY017 were well-tolerated and had acceptable safety profiles.

Stereoselective synthetic routes use P3HB (a polyester produced by bacteria) as a chiral feedstock for related polymers that have properties more amenable to processing and use.

Li and colleagues report that a septo-enteric polysynaptic circuit that is activated by chronic stress links the brain to the tumor microenvironment to promote colorectal cancer growth.

Developing Ru-intermetallic catalysts for mild ammonia synthesis faces structural complexity. Here, machine learning identified Sc_1/8Nd_7/8Ru₂, optimizing Ru–N bonding and orbital hybridization, enhancing catalytic activity under mild conditions.

In this study, Yang et al. compile a global dataset to uncover the degree to which plants coordinate root and seed traits. They report a global positive correlation between root diameter and seed size, driven by dual roles of arbuscular mycorrhiza in phosphorus uptake and pathogen defence.

Bamboo’s native structure, defined by the vertical growth pattern of its vascular bundles and parenchyma cell tissue, limits its application in advanced engineering materials. Here the authors show a method that controls localized moisture content to shape natural bamboo into a versatile three-dimensional structural product.

Polyploidy and subsequent post-polyploid diploidization (PPD) contribute to evolutionary success of plant species. Here, using 11 genomes from all nine subfamilies of Malvaceae as an example, the authors provide evidence to support the “polyploidy for survival and PPD for success” hypothesis.

Exotic chiral fermions beyond Weyl fermions have recently been discovered in a series of chiral crystals such as CoSi. Here, the authors report the evidences of chiral fermions in RhSn with opposite handedness compared to those observed in CoSi, where the structural chirality is also opposite.

Here, based on single-pass intestinal perfusion platform, the authors establish a microbiota-based drug permeability screening framework to compare perfusion and metabolomic profiles of 32 orally administered drugs in germ-free rats, and show that increased permeability of N-Acetylcysteine is mediated by cysteine-3-ketosphinganine of Bacteroides.

Clustering cells based on similarities in gene expression is the first step towards identifying cell types in scRNASeq data. Here the authors incorporate biological knowledge into the clustering step to facilitate the biological interpretability of clusters, and subsequent cell type identification.

Treatment selection for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (rHCC) after hepatectomy remains challenging. Here, the authors develop HEROVision, a Vision Transformer-based model for personalised prognosis prediction and treatment optimisation in rHCC based on clinical and imaging data, outperforming other guideline staging systems and revealing patients who would benefit from changing treatments.

Quek et al. survey endoscopists across ten Asian countries, exploring their perspectives on the use of artificial intelligence in gastrointestinal endoscopy. Perceived benefits, adoption barriers, research priorities, and the proposed role of an Asia AI Task Force are detailed.

The use of biomarkers of ageing is crucial for investigating age-related processes. This Review discusses biomarkers of ageing and of ageing-associated physiological changes, at the cellular, tissue and organism levels in humans and non-human primates.

Using genetically tailored protein-based nanoprobes and taking advantage of image-segmentation-based machine learning, a high-throughput assessment of vascular permeability of individual blood vessels in 32 different tumours is quantified. These insights are valuable in developing personalized anticancer nanomedicine therapeutics and strategies modulating vascular permeability to treat tumours.

In a prospective observational study, symptoms of anxiety and/or depression were associated with worse response to first-line treatment with immunotherapy in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the human sweet taste receptor in the apo and sucralose-bound states reveal its heterodimeric architecture and mechanisms of ligand binding and signal activation.

Worldwide, the number of only-child families is increasing. This research examines how growing up without siblings affects adult brain structure, function and connectivity, cognition, personality and mental health.

Thermochromic smart windows often face trade-offs among luminous transmittance, solar modulation, and transition temperature, limiting their effectiveness in building energy savings. Here, the authors describe a hydrated ionic polymer window that reversibly transitions between transparent and blue states via temperature-induced hydration and dehydration, achieving high transmittance, strong solar modulation, and tunable transition temperature.

Protomelission-like macrofossils from the Xiaoshiba Lagerstätte show features characteristic of dasycladalean green alga, suggesting that Protomelission is unlikely to be an early bryozoan.

Evidence for the treatment of patients with mild-to-moderate COPD is limited. Here, the authors show that long-term treatment with high-dose N-acetylcysteine neither significantly reduced the annual rate of total exacerbations nor improve lung function in patients with mild-tomoderate COPD.

Liu and colleagues examine how severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants evade CD8⁺ T cell epitope recognition.

The authors used Mendelian randomization to investigate how various dimensions of socio-economic status causally affect longevity. They found a positive independent causal effect of education on longevity but no evidence for independent effects from income or occupation.

BPAN is a rare neurodegenerative disease caused by WDR45 mutations. Here, the authors discover that WDR45 can competitively displace G3BP1 from Caprin-1 to promote stress granule disassembly, a function that is disrupted by BPAN-associated WDR45 mutations.

Ye et al. find a positive causal effect of mental well-being on healthy aging, independent of socioeconomic status. This work underscores the imperative to prioritize mental well-being in health policies geared to fostering healthy aging.

Fluorescent π-conjugated polymers are known for their superior brightness, but, thus far, their use in multiplexed molecular imaging has been negligible. Here, the authors propose POSA, a π-conjugated polymer-based amplification method, to achieve highly multiplexed signal amplification.

Catalytic syngas conversion is an essential part of sustainable chemical production but is hindered by the trade-off between conversion activity and product selectivity. Here the authors address this challenge by developing a catalytic shunt strategy.

The NINJ1 protein regulates plasma membrane rupture by altering membrane biomechanical properties, independent of cell death programs.

Using a dependency-aware deep generative framework, spaVAE efficiently models spatially resolved transcriptomics data and advances diverse analysis tasks. Following similar strategies, spaPeakVAE and spaMultiVAE enable spatial ATAC-seq data and spatial multi-omics data modeling and analysis, respectively.