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Plasma levels of liver enzymes provide insights into hepatic function and related diseases. Here, the authors perform a genome-wide association study on three liver enzymes, identifying genetic variants associated with their plasma concentration as well as links to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.

Joseph Schwartz Puts his own view of the controversy over the mathematical abilities of UK schoolchildren

A genome-wide association study including over 76,000 individuals with schizophrenia and over 243,000 control individuals identifies common variant associations at 287 genomic loci, and further fine-mapping analyses highlight the importance of genes involved in synaptic processes.

The role of Africa in the global spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is not well understood. Here, using evolutionary analyses, the authors show that Africa mainly acts as ecological sink for HPAI H5, and reveal varying paths of HPAI incursions either through domestic or wild birds.

Key events in human evolution are thought to have occurred between 3 and 2.5 Ma, but the fossil record of this period is sparse. Here, Alemseged et al. report a new fossil site from this period, Mille-Logya, Ethiopia, and characterize the geology, basin evolution and fauna, including specimens of Homo.

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

Alison Dunning, Stacey Edwards and colleagues analyze 3,872 common variants across the ESR1 locus in 118,816 women. They find five independent variants within regulatory regions that associate with different breast cancer–related phenotypes and regulate the expression of ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170.

Inverse vulcanization is a process that enables to convert sulfur, a by-product of the petroleum industry, into polymers. Here the authors report a synthetic method of inverse vulcanization via mechanochemical synthesis; compared to thermal routes, a broader range of monomers can be used, and the protocol yields materials with enhanced mercury capture capacity.

Efficient theoretical methods for the structural analysis of nanoparticles are very much needed. Here the authors demonstrate the use of machine-learning force fields and of a data-driven approach to study the thermodynamical stability and elucidate the melting process of gold nanoparticles.

The tumour microenvironment counteracts immune therapy in Glioblastomas. Authors show here, using spatially resolved and single cell transcriptomics, that dysfunctional T cells are induced by a myeloid cell subset via Interleukin-10 signalling, and inhibition of the downstream JAK/STAT pathway might restore glioblastoma immune therapy responsiveness.

Genome-wide association analyses of migraine and its subtypes identify new susceptibility loci, including rare variants with large effects implicating PRRT2, SCN11A and KCNK5.

The authors used mathematical modeling of human data to study how HIV persists despite suppressive antiretroviral therapy. They found that when latently infected CD4+ T cells proliferate or differentiate, they can create HIV DNA and passage it into other subsets. More mature CD4 cell subsets then clear HIV DNA faster.

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is an anti-inflammatory drug proposed as a treatment for COVID19. Here the results are reported from a randomised trial testing DMF treatment in 713 patients hospitalised with COVID-19. DMF was not associated with any improvement in day 5 outcomes.

Carbon nanomaterials have widespread application but fundamental aspects of their formation are still unclear. Here the authors explore the shock-induced synthesis of carbon nanoallotropes from liquid CO by time-resolved reflectivity and computations identifying the growth mechanism at the sub-nanosecond timescale

Analyses of 3,514 whole-genome-sequenced individuals from Sardinia indicate that within-island substructure and sex-biased processes have impacted the genetic history of Sardinia, providing new insight into the demography of ancestral Sardinians.

Hofmann and colleagues describe the mechanism underlying the therapeutic benefit of combinatorial use of SOS1 and KRAS-G12C inhibitors in the context of KRAS-G12C mutant-driven lung and colorectal cancer.

A TLAF is an archetypal geometrically frustrated magnetic system, which serves as the foundation for many exotic states, including quantum spin-liquids. Here, Park et al perform INS measurements on BLCTO, which, combined with theoretical calculations, reveal distinctive fingerprints of spinon excitations, thereby suggesting proximity to a spin liquid even in the presence of strong XXZ anisotropy.

Michael Talkowski and colleagues analyze balanced chromosomal abnormalities in 273 individuals by whole-genome sequencing. Their findings suggest that sequence-level resolution improves prediction of clinical outcomes for balanced rearrangements and provides insight into pathogenic mechanisms such as altered gene regulation due to changes in chromosome topology.

The sequencing and analysis of the banana genome is reported; these results inform plant phylogenetic relationships and genome evolution, and provide a resource for future genetic improvement of this important crop species.

The form and function of an organism are often tightly linked, at least in eukaryotes. In contrast, here it is shown using phylogenetic comparative methods that shape and motility are unlinked across a bacterial taxon, allowing increased evolutionary flexibility.

Circulating tumour DNA profiling in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer can be used to track single-nucleotide variants in plasma to predict lung cancer relapse and identify tumour subclones involved in the metastatic process.

The decision to form a fruiting body have been studied extensively, however, the mechanical events that trigger the creation of multiple cell layers is poorly understood. Here the authors find M. xanthus cells adjust their reversal frequency to control mechanical stresses that triggers layer formation in the colonies.

Immune lymphocyte estimation from nucleotide sequencing (ImmuneLENS) infers B cell and T cell fractions from whole-genome sequencing data. Applied to the 100,000 Genomes Project datasets, circulating T cell fraction provides sex-dependent and prognostic insights in patients.

Spectacular archaeological finds in melting glaciers and mountain ice are giving new — although fleeting — insights into prehistoric hunting practices and more.

Swanton and colleagues present a clonal expression signature, ORACLE, which, in combination with clinicopathological and molecular risk factors, can predict survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma, and they prospectively validate its prognostic value.

The SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 helicase is essential for viral replication and of interest as a drug target. Here, the authors present the crystal structures of NSP13 in the apo form and bound to either phosphate or the non-hydrolysable ATP analog AMP-PNP and discuss the helicase mechanism. They also perform a crystallographic fragment screening and identify 65 bound fragments, which could help in the design of new antiviral agents.