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Using data from a phase 3 efficacy trial, the authors here show that post-boost Omicron BA.1 spike-specific binding and neutralizing antibodies inversely correlate with Omicron COVID-19 and booster efficacy for naive and non-naive participants, supporting the continued use of antibody as a surrogate endpoint.

A multimodal analysis of patients with 22 different immune-mediated monogenic diseases versus matched healthy controls leads to the development of the immune health metric, which could be implemented broadly to predict responses to aging, vaccination and other immune perturbations.

Chiral-icosahedral symmetry is exceptionally rare in molecular systems. Here, the authors predict the spontaneous formation of a stable chiral-icosahedral gold shell, in which all 60 atoms are symmetrically equivalent.

Cancer cell-intrinsic PD-1 expression has been documented in multiple tumor types, including in melanoma. Here the authors identify a type I IFN-JAK/STAT signaling axis as a critical regulator of tumor cell-intrinsic PD-1 expression and targeting, with implications for cancer immunotherapy.

Proteomic analysis of cerebrospinal fluid from individuals with autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease reveals how this complex and chronic disease evolves over many decades.

The authors report observations of a dense and inhomogeneous ring at a surprisingly large distance from the trans-Neptunian body Quaoar.

Immune responses to influenza vaccination are affected by previous mild COVID-19 in a sex-dimorphic manner.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Spillover of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus to dairy cattle and the findings of a clinical, pathological and epidemiological investigation in nine affected farms are reported.

This study examines the impact of herbivorous insects on biogeochemical cycling within forests. From a global network of 74 plots within 40 mature, undisturbed broadleaved forests, they show that background levels of insect herbivory are sufficiently large to alter both ecosystem element cycling and influence terrestrial carbon cycling.

The efficacy of carbapenem antibiotics can be compromised by metallo-β-lactamases, but a high-throughput screen followed by optimization has now enabled the discovery of indole-2-carboxylates (InCs) as potent broad-spectrum metallo-β-lactamase inhibitors. The results highlight the potential of InC–carbapenem combinations for clinical use as well as mechanism-guided approaches to combatting globally disseminated antibiotic resistant mechanisms.

Machine-learning technology provides a data-driven approach to find the critical features for ideal carbon-based supercapacitors. Here, the authors report machine-Learning assisted discovery of oxygen rich highly porous carbons that exhibits a high specific capacitance.

The measurement of the total cross-section of proton–proton collisions is of fundamental importance for particle physics. Here, the first measurement of the inelastic cross-section is presented for proton–proton collisions at an energy of 7 teraelectronvolts using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

A new study of samples from the Ryugu asteroid reveal a greater diversity of macromolecular organic matter than that found in related carbonaceous meteorites. Researchers find distinct populations of alkyl-aromatic grains, and organic carbonate is found with coarse-grained clay minerals

Even though the Grotthuss mechanism was proposed two centuries ago, it is still unclear why proton transfer via the hydroxide ion is slower than that via hydronium. Advanced ab initio molecular dynamics simulations now show that it is because proton transfer via hydroxide is less temporally correlated than transfer via hydronium.

Authors have previously reported on the efficacy and safety of the recombinant spike protein nanoparticle vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, in healthy adults. In this work, they assess anti-spike binding IgG, anti-RBD binding IgG and neutralising antibody titer as correlates of risk and protection against COVID-19.

Genomic studies of Heliconius butterflies provide evidence that Heliconius elevatus is a hybrid species, and that its speciation was driven by introgression of traits from Heliconius melpomene into the other parent, an ancestor of Heliconius pardalinus.

Seder and colleagues use a self-assembling nanoparticle vaccine and adjuvant to expand stem-like CD8⁺ T cells and trigger potent antitumor responses.

A rare case of asymptomatic dominantly inherited Alzheimer’s reveals confined tau pathology and unique proteomic features, highlighting potential resilience mechanisms decades beyond expected onset.

Betratron oscillations of electrons driven through a plasma by a high-intensity laser generate coherent X-rays. A new study demonstrates the intensity of these X-rays can be as bright as that generated by conventional third-generation synchrotrons, in a device a fraction of the size and cost.

A study of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in England between September 2020 and June 2021 finds that interventions capable of containing previous variants were insufficient to stop the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

In this study, Aggarwal and colleagues perform prospective sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolates derived from asymptomatic student screening and symptomatic testing of students and staff at the University of Cambridge. They identify important factors that contributed to within university transmission and onward spread into the wider community.

Snow accumulation rates in Antarctica can now be reconstructed from nitrate isotopes in snow and ice. This independent technique offers scientists a new tool for studying how Antarctic climate changed in the past and how it may change in the future.

Metal–organic frameworks featuring unsaturated metal sites have emerged as promising materials for CO₂ capture, but the host–guest interactions at play have remained poorly understood. An approach based on quantum chemical calculations has now been devised to generate force fields that accurately describe a MOF's metal sites and predict its gas uptake abilities.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

In this Consensus Statement, an international panel of experts present an overview of the latest developments in the field of cholangiocarcinoma. A set of consensus recommendations and research priorities is provided.

Very-high-energy γ-rays observed ten hours after the prompt emission of the γ-ray burst 180720B can be attributed to either an inverse Compton or an extreme synchrotron process.

The Omicron variant evades vaccine-induced neutralization but also fails to form syncytia, shows reduced replication in human lung cells and preferentially uses a TMPRSS2-independent cell entry pathway, which may contribute to enhanced replication in cells of the upper airway. Altered fusion and cell entry characteristics are linked to distinct regions of the Omicron spike protein.

The functional morphology of the fluid-filled semicircular ducts of the inner ear is adapted to body temperature and behavioural activity and can be used to investigate the evolution of endothermy.

The prevalence of centrosome amplification (CA) and the genomic landscape of chromosomal instability in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) remain to be explored. Here the authors suggest CA as a potential driver of tumour evolution and a biomarker for treatment response in HGSOC.

Here, Cabral et al., perform a multi-omics analysis of the gut microbiome of capybara, the largest living rodent, unveiling enzymatic mechanisms for the breakdown of lignocellulosic biomass, and report two undescribed families of carbohydrate-active enzymes.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

Patient-derived xenograft models (PDX) have been extensively used to study the molecular and clinical features of cancers. Here the authors present a cohort of 536 PDX models from 25 cancers, as well as their genomic and evolutionary profiles and their suitability for clinical trials.

Genetic and testing data from England show that the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern B.1.1.7 has a transmission advantage over other lineages.

Characterising the response to SARS-CoV-2 post vaccination is critical in the appraisement of the induced immune response, performance and protective potential. Here the authors present data from a phase 4 clinical trial in autoimmune rheumatic disease patients 6 months post second dose of Sinovac-CoronaVac inactivated vaccine that show a marked reduction in antibody particularly in males or those under treatment with immune targeting therapies but saw no rise in COVID-19 disease.

Reactivation of fetal gene programs has been linked to hypertrophy of postnatal cardiomyocytes and heart disease, but so far the transcription factors responsible for this effect have not been well defined. De Windt and colleagues have found that the fetal cardiac transcription factor Hand2 is re-expressed in response to stress signalling and induces cardiac hypertrophy.

In an interim analysis of an ongoing phase 1 trial of CAR T cells targeting EGFR and IL13Ra2 in patients with multifocal, recurrent glioblastoma, intrathecal delivery is feasible and well tolerated, with some reductions seen in tumor size.

Comprehensive informatic, structural and biochemical characterization of the GH128 family defines subgroups of glycoside hydrolase enzymes with unique recognition and cleavage mechanisms for 1,3-beta-glucan polysaccharide substrates.

Understanding the emergence, evolution, and transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is essential to combat antimicrobial resistance. Here, Munk et al. analyse ARGs in hundreds of sewage samples from 101 countries and describe regional patterns, diverse genetic environments of common ARGs, and ARG-specific transmission patterns.

Recent measurements in the Amazon rainforest indicate missing sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Here the authors show that soil microorganisms are a strong, unaccounted source of highly reactive sesquiterpenes, a class of VOCs that can regulate ozone chemistry within the forest canopy.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with a strong ethnic and gender bias. In a transancestral genetic association study, Langefeldet al. identify 24 novel regions associated with risk to lupus and propose a cumulative hits hypothesis for loci conferring risk to SLE.

Ecosystem services provided by dung beetles are an underappreciated component of terrestrial ecosystems. Here, the authors report a standardized distributed experiment which shows that dung removal rate, a key ecosystem process in pastures, is greater under high beetle functional diversity regardless of grazing intensity.

Specialised pro-resolving lipid mediators can reduce inflammatory responses and may be active in lymphedema. Here the authors show that in a mouse model 15-LO derived lipid mediators are reduced during inflammation and that a lack of the 15-LO producing enzyme aggravated disease and addition of 15-LO enzyme or Treg cells reduced disease.

Myocardial regeneration and proliferation of heart muscle cells is limited to a short period after birth early postnatal life, after which heart muscle cells can only grow in size and not in number. Here, the authors identified that the expression level of an endogenous microRNA cluster in heart muscle promotes the passage of the proliferative state to adult heart growth, and modulating the expression of this cluster can stimulate heart regeneration after myocardial infarction.

Post-international travel quarantine has been widely implemented to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but the impacts of such policies are unclear. Here, the authors used linked genomic and contact tracing data to assess the impacts of a 14-day quarantine on return to England in summer 2020.