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This multicenter study demonstrates use of dried and capillary blood as a minimally invasive, scalable approach for Alzheimer’s biomarker testing in research, with potential as a widely scalable population-based research approach, especially in resource-limited settings.

A cost-effective all-in-one halide cathode material with high energy density and exceptional cycling stability can be used to achieve energy-dense, durable cathodes for the next generation of all-solid-state batteries.

Genomic analyses applied to 14 childhood- and adult-onset psychiatric disorders identifies five underlying genomic factors that explain the majority of the genetic variance of the individual disorders.

Genome-wide analyses identify 30 independent loci associated with obsessive–compulsive disorder, highlighting genetic overlap with other psychiatric disorders and implicating putative effector genes and cell types contributing to its etiology.

This study maps out the diversity and evolution of the bacterial order Caulobacterales, including the model organism C. crescentus, which reveals widespread phototrophy and illuminates the evolution of bacterial cell shapes and lifecycle complexity.

Humans and other mammals are prodigious learners, partly because they also ‘learn how to learn’. Wang and colleagues present a new theory showing how learning to learn may arise from interactions between prefrontal cortex and the dopamine system.

As more genetic sequence data are generated, evolutionary biology questions about inheritance and phenotypes can be examined with sophisticated analyses. This paper examines pleiotropy, or multiple effects from one genetic mutation, on the skeletal characteristics of mice. It is concluded there is no 'cost of complexity' for higher organisms.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

A study identified unprecedented horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events in Cuscuta campestris and related species, and provides insights into convergent HGTs between Cuscuta and Orobanchaceae parasites and the functional importance of the HGT sequences.

gem-Difluorinated motifs are prevalent in numerous leading pharmaceuticals. Here the authors merge I(I)/I(III)-catalysed fluorination and C(sp3)-F bond activation to generate these motifs directly from 1,3-diaryl cyclobutanols in a single operation.

Bioadhesives are materials frequently used as surgical sealants, though to date, these typically possess limited antibacterial properties. Here, the authors present a novel injectable and antibacterial bioadhesive hydrogel and demonstrate its performance in vivo.

Federated ML (FL) provides an alternative to train accurate and generalizable ML models, by only sharing numerical model updates. Here, the authors present the largest FL study to-date to generate an automatic tumor boundary detector for glioblastoma.

Activated B cells and T cells accumulate within joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Here, the authors use single-cell transcriptome and repertoire profiling to identify clonally expanded synovial B cells and T cells and define their phenotypes and predicted cell-cell interactions.

Here, the authors develop a reverse epitaxial process whereby a nanocrystalline Au film becomes highly textured and support a suspended 2D WSe₂ overlayer. Surface plasmon polaritons are launched in nanostructured Au by laser excitation and couple remotely to single photon emitters present in WSe₂.

Patricia Munroe, Christopher Newton-Cheh, Andrew Morris and colleagues perform association studies in over 340,000 individuals of European ancestry and identify 66 loci, of which 17 are novel, involved in blood pressure regulation. The risk SNPs are enriched for cis-regulatory elements, particularly in vascular endothelial cells.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

High-throughput tissue arrays allow for evaluation of in vitro cellular responses and correlation to matrix composition.

The presence of gaseous chlorine atom precursors within the troposphere was thought only to occur in marine areas but now nitryl chloride has been found at a distance of 1,400 km from the nearest coastline. A model study shows that the amount of nitryl chloride production in the continental USA alone is similar to previous global estimates for marine regions. A significant fraction of tropospheric chlorine atoms may arise directly from anthropogenic pollutants.

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.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study here shows novel genetic loci to be associated to body fat percentage, and describes cross-phenotype association that further demonstrate a close relationship between adiposity and cardiovascular disease risk.

Self-interest of the chemical industry apart, the lifestyle theory of cancer causation is held to reflect misinformation and ‘inactive conservatism’.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, Pattaro et al. conduct a meta-analysis to discover several new loci associated with variation in eGFR and find that genes associated with eGFR loci often encode proteins potentially related to kidney development.

Defective DNA interstrand crosslink repair in Fanconi anaemia drives extensive genomic rearrangements, thereby substantially increasing the risk of cancer development.

Understanding the tumor microenviroment is important before it can be exploited therapeutically. Here, the authors use single cell sequencing to study stromal cells in mouse tumors and identify a subset of interferon-licensed cancer associated fibroblasts that appear after anti-TGFβ treatment.

Alternative polyadenylation (APA) has been implicated in diverse physiological and pathological conditions including cancer. The authors present a new algorithm, DaPars, for APA analysis using available RNA-seq data and suggest CstF64 as a master regulator of 3′-UTR shortening across multiple tumour types.

Melinda Mills, Nicola Barban, Harold Snieder, Marcel den Hoed and colleagues perform a meta-analysis of data from over 300,000 individuals for age at first birth and number of children ever born. They identify 12 significant loci that associate with these traits, providing insights into the genetic basis of human reproductive behavior.

The establishment of a drug-discovery screening pipeline for cryptosporidiosis, and identification of pyrazolopyridines as selective ATP-competitive inhibitors of the Cryptosporidium lipid kinase PI(4)K.

Reduced central corneal thickness (CCT) is observed in common eye diseases as well as in rare Mendelian disorders. Here, in a cross-ancestry GWAS, the authors identify 19 novel genetic loci associated with CCT, a subset of which is involved in rare corneal or connective tissue disorders.

Microwestern arrays combine the advantages of scalability of reverse phase protein arrays and the information content of western blotting for analyzing protein abundance and modification state with high sensitivity and throughput. The method is demonstrated for analyzing phosphorylation state changes in the EGF receptor signaling network using Bayesian network modeling.

Contrary to the view that urbanization is a major driver of the global rise in obesity, the global increase in body-mass index is shown to be mostly due to increases in the body-mass indexes of rural populations.

The biofuel ethanol has been introduced into urban transportation in many countries. Here, by measuring aerosols in São Paulo, the authors find that high ethanol prices coincided with an increase in harmful nanoparticles by a third, as drivers switched from ethanol to cheaper gasoline, showing a benefit of ethanol.

The Microarray Quality Control consortium pitted 36 teams against each other to evaluate methods for creating genomic classifiers, computational tools for interpreting gene expression profiles. The performance of the classifiers on blinded validation data—and metadata on the analytic methods—reveal the challenges facing the field.

Shortening of mRNA 3′ UTRs is often observed in cancer. A combination of model-based analysis and experiments suggests that 3′ UTR shortening disrupts competing endogenous RNA crosstalk, thus influencing tumor-suppressor expression in trans.

Precision medicine for rheumatic diseases is still in its infancy, but recent advances are enabling comprehensive profiling and mechanistic insights. This Review outlines the progress, promises, and challenges of translating these findings into the clinic.