Search

Paul Pharoah and colleagues report the results of a large genome-wide association study of ovarian cancer. They identify new susceptibility loci for different epithelial ovarian cancer histotypes and use integrated analyses of genes and regulatory features at each locus to predict candidate susceptibility genes, including OBFC1.

Stig Bojesen, Georgia Chenevix-Trench, Alison Dunning and colleagues report common variants at the TERT-CLPTM1L locus associated with mean telomere length measured in whole blood. They also identify associations at this locus to breast or ovarian cancer susceptibility and report functional studies in breast and ovarian cancer tissue and cell lines.

The ATLAS Collaboration reports the observation of the electroweak production of two jets and a Z-boson pair. This process is related to vector-boson scattering and allows the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking to be probed.

In lung cancer, relatively few germline mutations are known to impact risk. Here the authors looked at rare variants in 39,146 individuals and find novel germline mutations associated with risk, as well as implicating ATM and a new candidate gene for lung cancer risk.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are typically built by linking metal centres with organic bridges. By using metal–diimine complexes as linkers, researchers have now immobilized these photoresponsive moieties into a MOF scaffold, which enabled them to observe a different excited state from that occurring in solution, and study a photoreaction crystallographically.

Oestrogen negative breast cancer is associated with a poor prognosis. In this study, the authors perform a meta-analysis of 11 breast cancer genome-wide association studies and identify four new loci associated with oestrogen negative breast cancer risk. These findings may aid in stratifying patients in the clinic.

Breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers varies depending on other genetic factors. Here, the authors perform a case-only genome-wide association study and highlight novel loci associated with breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers.

The trans-Tango genetic strategy, which mediates signaling across synapses, was adapted to identify neural connections in a vertebrate nervous system, with synaptic partners confirmed in the retina and spinal cord of larval zebrafish.

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.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) replenish blood cells. Here, Luis et al., identify a feedback mechanism by which IL-1 secreted by activated platelets signals through niche Lepr+ cells to activate HSCs and restore platelet homeostasis.

The ATLAS Collaboration reports a measurement of the ratio of the decay rates of W bosons to τ leptons and muons, in agreement with universal lepton couplings as postulated in the standard model of particle physics.

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider reports a search for charged-lepton-flavour violation in decays of Z bosons into a τ lepton and an electron or muon of opposite charge.

IL-10 can limit inflammation in part by inhibiting miR-155. Here the authors show how this axis induces mitochondrial arginase-2 to alter the mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergetics of macrophages and make these cells less pro-inflammatory.

Using animal models and clinical samples, the authors report that glioblastoma metabolites activate the transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor in tumor-associated macrophages to modulate their function and T cell immunity, promoting tumor growth.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Global Ecosystem Typology has been developed to provide a systematic framework for data on all of Earth’s ecosystems in a unified theoretical context to support biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services.

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.

Walsh and colleagues use prospective sequencing in a large cohort of pediatric patients with solid tumors to detect mutations in cancer predisposition genes and guide downstream clinical care.

Plastics were found in 77 out of 84 coral reefs surveyed in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, including in deeper reefs and remote and near-pristine reefs, such as in uninhabited central Pacific atolls.

Freshwater flow reduction in the Mediterranean Sea due to climate change and escalating water demand may cause a strong decline in marine productivity and commercial species biomass, affecting ecosystems and socio-economic activities.

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.

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.

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.

Environmental exposures shape patterns of selection for mutations in clonal hematopoiesis. Cancer therapies promote the growth of clones with mutations that are strongly enriched in treatment-related myeloid neoplasms.

The first operation of the European X-ray free-electron laser facility accelerator based on superconducting technology is reported. The maximum electron energy is 17.5 GeV. A laser average power of 6 W is achieved at a photon energy of 9.3 keV.

Quantum electrodynamics predicts a rare process in which light is scattered by light. The ATLAS Collaboration reports signs of this elusive effect in the collisions of ultra-relativistic lead ions.

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.

Ten years after the discovery of the Higgs boson, the ATLAS  experiment at CERN probes its kinematic properties with a significantly larger dataset from 2015–2018 and provides further insights on its interaction with other known particles.

Experiments at the Joint European Torus tokamak show improved thermal ion confinement in the presence of highly energetic ions and Alfvénic instabilities in the plasma.

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.

Interactive computer graphics designed for protein crystallography has also helped visualize a 5,000-year-old excavation site in three dimensions. Tomorrow's archaeologists stand to benefit from this marriage of the very old and the very new.

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.

Expert elicitation methods identify a set of essential ecological variables that may be used to guide effective conservation and management of the deep sea.

Over the past 35 years, annual tree mortality risk has increased in the moist tropical forests of Australia and is associated with increased atmospheric water stress.

Time for a rethink.

The integration of nano-molecules into microelectronic circuitry is challenging. Here, the authors provide a scalable method for contacting a self-assembled monolayer of nanoparticles with a single layer of graphene that produces single-electron effects, in the form of a Coulomb staircase, with a yield of at least 70%.