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Understanding collective behaviour is an important aspect of managing the pandemic response. Here the authors show in a large global study that participants that reported identifying more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies in the context of the pandemic.

The anterior cingulate cortex encodes affective pain behaviours modulated by opioids; targeting opioid-sensitive neurons through a new chemogenetic gene therapy replicates the analgesic effects of morphine, providing precise chronic pain relief without affecting sensory detection.

Durable agonism of NPR1 achieved with a novel investigational monoclonal antibody could mirror the positive hemodynamic changes in blood pressure and heart failure identified in humans with lifelong exposure to NPR1 coding variants.

There is still a need for effective HIV vaccines. In this phase I clinical trial, the authors show that an HIV-1 vaccine candidate, ConM SOSIP.v7, is well-tolerated in HIV-negative adults and that it elicits a strain-specific neutralising antibody response that differed between female and male participants.

Intestinal homeostasis is maintained by interactions between the gut-associated lymphoid tissue and the resident flora. Here Montorsi et al use multiplexed single cell omics to describe double negative type 2 B cells and DNASE1L3-expressing dendritic cells that interact and associate with microbiota on the human gut antigenic front line.

Direct elevation of heart rate using noninvasive optogenetics in mice influences anxiety-like behaviours in specific environmental contexts, and the posterior insular cortex is implicated in this integration of signals from the heart with environmental risk information.

Magnetic toroidal invariance generates transverse electromagnetic effects in materials with broken symmetries. Now a distinct magnetic response is shown to emerge in ferro-rotational systems in which both inversion and time-reversal symmetries are preserved.

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.

For optical control of plasmons metals require a large amount of power in the control pulse, yielding a small modulation depth. Here, Sim et al. fabricate arrays of Bi₂Se₃ and report a modulation depth of 2,400% at 1.5 THz with an optical fluence of 45 μJ/cm², demonstrating a novel route for controlling plasmons.

Understanding the mechanisms behind clinical immunity to malaria is crucial for developing effective interventions. Here, the authors demonstrate that clinical immunity to Plasmodium vivax develops rapidly after a single controlled human malaria infection, reducing inflammatory responses and protecting against symptoms, while not significantly affecting parasite load.

Few-layer molybdenum ditelluride and tungsten diselenide field-effect transistors can be reversibly doped with different carrier types and concentrations using pulses of ultraviolet and visible light, allowing reconfigurable complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor circuits to be created.

Crystalline polymers with functionalities along the backbone can store and transfer electrons, ions and gases and thus can be used in devices. However, the formation of such materials can be difficult. Here, Lee and others have produced highly crystalline conjugated polymers via two-monomer-connected precursors.

King Richard III was a controversial English King whose remains are presumably deposited in Grey Friars in Leicester. Here the authors sequence the mitochondrial genome and Y-chromosome DNA of the skeletal remains and living relatives of Richard III and confirm that the remains belong to King Richard III.

Arabzade, Shirnekhi, Varadharajan, Ippagunta and colleagues show that the zinc finger translocation-associated (ZFTA) fusion oncoproteins gain intrinsically disordered regions, inducing nuclear condensate formation and oncogenic activation.

Phytoplankton productivity is high in the polar oceans. Lidar observations from 2006–2015 reveal that phytoplankton biomass was characterized by annual cycles influenced by sea-ice extent in the Antarctic and ecological processes in the Arctic.

Vaccination is effective in protecting from COVID-19. Here the authors report immune responses and breakthrough infections in twice-vaccinated patients receiving anti-TNF treatments for inflammatory bowel disease, and find dampened vaccine responses that implicate the need of adapted vaccination schedules for these patients.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of type 2 diabetes (T2D) identifies more than 600 T2D-associated loci; integrating physiological trait and single-cell chromatin accessibility data at these loci sheds light on heterogeneity within the T2D phenotype.

This Primer by Wilson and colleagues summarizes the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of neurological and psychiatric manifestations of COVID-19.

A photoreactive crosslinker can be used to directly pattern thin films of exfoliated two-dimensional flakes, and the technique can be performed sequentially to create patterned van der Waals heterostructures at wafer scales.

What is the state of trust in scientists around the world? To answer this question, the authors surveyed 71,922 respondents in 68 countries and found that trust in scientists is moderately high.

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.

A genomic constraint map for the human genome constructed using data from 76,156 human genomes from the Genome Aggregation Database shows that non-coding constrained regions are enriched for regulatory elements and variants associated with complex diseases and traits.

A laser can be used to locally dope two-dimensional molybdenum ditelluride channels, allowing both n- and p-doped channels to be assembled within the same atomic plane and for device arrays of n–p–n bipolar junction transistor amplifiers and radial p–n photovoltaic cells to be fabricated.

Upstream open reading frames (uORFs), located in 5’ untranslated regions, are regulators of downstream protein translation. Here, Whiffin et al. use the genomes of 15,708 individuals in the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD) to systematically assess the deleteriousness of variants creating or disrupting uORFs.

A cross-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci, reveals putative causal genes, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as potential drug targets, and provides cross-ancestry integrative risk prediction.

Homologous recombination ensures chromosome segregation and genetic diversity. Here, the authors reveal a role for the Hop2-Mnd1 complex in maintaining Dmc1-mediated recombination fidelity by preventing illegitimate DNA exchanges.

Lamins are intermediate filaments and the major component of the nuclear lamina. Here the authors determine the crystal structure of a construct comprising the N-terminal half of human lamin A/C and use their structure and cross-linking and biochemical experiments to discuss lamin assembly.

Unstable and harsh climates have been implicated as partial causes of Neanderthal demise. Here a speleothem palaeoenvironmental record spanning the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition attests to stable and moderate conditions in the Mediterranean during this time suggesting a more complicated picture than previously thought.

Double-sided epitaxy of van der Waals materials through atomic membranes is demonstrated, enabling electrons to resonantly tunnel between aligned topological insulator surfaces with the conservation of energy, momentum and spin helicity.

Roadways are damaged by temperature extremes, increased precipitation and sea level rise. This Review discusses the mechanisms and impacts of climate stressors on roadways, the resulting operational and maintenance challenges, and strategies to increase resilience.

FXR regulates the levels of ACE2 in tissues of the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems that are affected by COVID-19, and inhibiting FXR with ursodeoxycholic acid downregulates ACE2 and reduces susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Plants use multiple cues to monitor seasonal temperatures. Here, the authors show that Arabidopsis requires not only prolonged cold, but the absence of temperature spikes above 15 °C to epigenetically silence FLC during winter.

Electrochemical methods have great potential to help achieve net-zero emissions. Here, a method to synthesize ethylene carbonate is reported, which is electrochemically initiated and enables the concurrent production of hydrogen, capture of CO₂ and subsequent conversion of the captured CO₂ during ethylene carbonate synthesis.

It would be desirable to have a reliable and scalable method to manipulate neutral-atoms for the creation of controllable quantum systems. Here the authors demonstrate real-time transport of single rubidium atoms in holographic microtraps controlled by liquid-crystal spatial light modulators.

A two-dimensional non-Hermitian topological band is created in an ultracold system of fermions, which exhibits the non-Hermitian skin effect.

Predicting the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) since the 2000s has become increasingly challenging. Here the authors show that the Southern Indian Ocean Dipole has become a key precursor of Central Pacific El Niño since the 2000s with a 14-month lead.

Electric polarization is well defined for insulators but not for metals. Electric-like polarization is now realized via inhomogeneous lattice strain in metallic SrRuO₃, generating a pseudo-electric field. This field affects the material’s electronic bands.

In this Review, the authors discuss the involvement of astrocytes and microglia in the pathophysiology of progressive multiple sclerosis and consider current and future therapeutic approaches that directly target glial cells.

The bacterium Vibrio cholerae has caused seven recorded cholera pandemics. The factors responsible for the decline of 6th pandemic classical biotype strains are not well understood. Here, Kostiuk et al. propose that classical strains underwent sequential mutations in type-six secretion system genes that disadvantaged them when confronted with 7th pandemic El Tor biotype strains.

Ferroelectric zirconium-doped hafnia (Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂) can be used to create negative differential capacitance behaviour in capacitors and transistor gate stacks, providing reliable enhancements in switching performance.

The model–inventory discrepancy in net land-use carbon emissions mainly results from conceptual differences in estimating anthropogenic forest sinks. A revised disaggregation of global land model results allows greater comparability with inventories.

Methane monooxygenase (MMO)—a protein of high biotechnological interest for the selective and mild conversion of methane to methanol—lacks a high-throughput production system. Now, the authors report the efficient production of particulate MMO-mimics for catalysis in solution and hydrogels.

The cryo-electron microscopy structure of the human adenosine A₁ receptor in complex with adenosine and heterotrimeric G_i2 protein provides molecular insights into receptor and G-protein selectivity.

Samples of different body regions from hundreds of human donors are used to study how genetic variation influences gene expression levels in 44 disease-relevant tissues.

Trees often associate with mycorrhizal fungi, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) or ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. Luo et al. analyze 74,563 forest plots across the contiguous USA, showing that forests with mixed AM and ECM tree species are more productive than when dominated by AM or ECM tree species.