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Liquid films are essential in semiconductor lithography but microscopic behaviors of photoresist within these films remain unclear. This study uses cryo-electron tomography to reconstruct photoresist structures, achieving 99% defect reduction.

Researchers identified a unique “latch bulge” in yeast mitofusin Fzo1. This fungi-specific structure allows Fzo1 to dimerize and remain locked after catalyzing GTP hydrolysis, enabling efficient mitochondrial fusion with minimal energy consumption.

Influenza virus ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs) are essential for replication and transcription. Here, authors solve the cryo-EM structure of influenza mini-vRNP to reveal detailed FluPol–NP–RNA coupling and suggest a conformational shift in RNPs during the viral life cycle.

Air-water interface hinders cryo-EM reconstruction and achievable resolution. Here, a superstructure called GSAMs is developed to alleviate the air-water interface effect and improve the efficiency of cryo-EM analysis.

SARS-CoV-2 virus replication and transcription is mediated by the replication and transcription complex (RTC) that is composed of 16 non-structural proteins (nsp). Here, the authors present the cryo-EM structure of a SARS-CoV-2 mini RTC consisting of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase with a template-primer RNA, the RdRp cofactors nsp7 and nsp8 and two nsp13 helicase molecules, and they propose a model for helicase-polymerase coupling during SARS-CoV-2 RTC assembly.

Wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells often suffer from phase segregation under continuous illumination. Here, authors combine light soaking with small-molecule surface passivation to suppress halide segregation, achieving efficiency of 28.64% in stable two-terminal all-perovskite tandem solar cells.

The synthesis of wafer-scale ultraflat single-crystal hexagonal boron nitride film is realized by strong coupling to a Cu_0.8Ni_0.2(111)/sapphire wafer, providing a potential method for industry-compatible high-κ dielectric integration in two-dimensional electronics.

It is uncertain how much life expectancy of the Chinese population would improve under current and greater policy targets on lifestyle-based risk factors for chronic diseases and mortality behaviours. Here we report a simulation of how improvements in four risk factors, namely smoking, alcohol use, physical activity and diet, could affect mortality. We show that in the ideal scenario, that is, all people who currently smokers quit smoking, excessive alcohol userswas reduced to moderate intake, people under 65 increased moderate physical activity by one hour and those aged 65 and older increased by half an hour per day, and all participants ate 200 g more fresh fruits and 50 g more fish/seafood per day, life expectancy at age 30 would increase by 4.83 and 5.39 years for men and women, respectively. In a more moderate risk reduction scenario referred to as the practical scenario, where improvements in each lifestyle factor were approximately halved, the gains in life expectancy at age 30 could be half those of the ideal scenario. However, the validity of these estimates in practise may be influenced by population-wide adherence to lifestyle recommendations. Our findings suggest that the current policy targets set by the Healthy China Initiative could be adjusted dynamically, and a greater increase in life expectancy would be achieved.

Targeted protein degradation in bacteria typically requires fusion with tags or chemical degraders. Here, authors developed GPlad, a tunable system using designed guide proteins and arginine kinase to degrade diverse proteins in E. coli without the need for exogenous degraders or protein fusions.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.

This paper shows that the uniformity of vitreous ice thickness relies on the surface flatness of the supporting film, and presents a method to use ultraflat graphene as the support for cryo-EM specimen preparation.

Design strategies for non-fullerene acceptors are important for achieving high-efficiency organic solar cells. Here the authors design asymmetrically branched alkyl chains on the thiophene unit of the L8-BO acceptor to achieve high crystallinity and photoluminescence quantum yield, yielding over 20% efficiency in single-junction organic solar cells.

Liver transplantation can be an effective treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma, however, outcomes can be variable. Here, the authors use multi-omics to develop subgroups and identify a CAF-related classification.

Engineering photosynthetic ability in non-photosynthetic microbes to assimilate one-carbon substrates remains challenging. Here, the authors construct a new-to-nature photosynthesis system in E. coli by integrating light and dark reaction to synthesize diverse bioproduct from one-carbon substrates.

Defect-free integration of 2D materials onto semiconductor wafers is desired to implement heterogeneous electronic devices. Here, the authors report a method to transfer high-quality graphene on target wafers via gradient surface energy modulation, leading to improved structural and electronic properties.

Inbreeding depression has been observed in many different species, but in humans a systematic analysis has been difficult so far. Here, analysing more than 1.3 million individuals, the authors show that a genomic inbreeding coefficient (FROH) is associated with disadvantageous outcomes in 32 out of 100 traits tested.

Understanding the local microenvironment is crucial yet challenging for catalyst design. Here, the authors demonstrate that the nanoconfined environment of carbon nanotubes enriches CO and induces structural deformation in cobalt phthalocyanine, thereby promoting CO₂ electroreduction to methanol.

High-resolution electron microscopy requires robust and noise-free substrates to support the specimens. Here, the authors present a polymer- and transfer-free direct-etching method for fabrication of graphene grids with ultraclean surfaces and demonstrate cryo-EM at record high resolution.

The epitaxial synthesis of high-density, vertically aligned arrays of two-dimensional (2D) fin-oxide heterostructures is described, enabling the fabrication of 2D fin field-effect transistors with high electron mobility and desirable low-power specifications.

LC-MS-based proteomics often relies on data-dependent acquisition (DDA) for quality control. Here, the authors demonstrate that data-independent acquisition (DIA) outperforms DDA in detecting subtle changes in LC-MS status in large-scale quantitative proteomics experiments. They further prioritized 15 QC metrics and developed an AI model, implemented in a free software called iDIA-QC, for detecting LC-MS faults.

Porphyrins are produced at scale through metabolic engineering and optimization of CPIII purification.

The authors show that abnormal elevation of osteocyte-derived sclerostin deregulates Wnt–β-catenin signalling in the brain and aggravates cognitive impairment under pathological conditions.

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.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study of blood lipid levels in roughly 1.6 million individuals demonstrates the gain of power attained when diverse ancestries are included to improve fine-mapping and polygenic score generation, with gains in locus discovery related to sample size.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

Observational analyses from the China Kadoorie Biobank found that alcohol consumption was associated with higher risks of 61 diseases in Chinese men, with most of these associations confirmed by genetic analyses.

Slow growth rate of synthetic methylotrophs affects methanol valorization. Here, the strains self-adjust expression of topoisomerase I inhibitor to alleviate transcription-replication conflicts in synthetic methylotrophic E. coli and reduce its doubling time to that of natural methylotrophs.

Evolution of accretion disk and corona during outbursts in black hole binary systems is still unclear. Here, the authors show spectral analysis of MAXI J1820+070 and propose a scenario of a dynamical corona to explain the evolution of the reflection fraction observed by Insight-HXMT.

Genome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in ancestrally diverse populations implicate candidate causal genes and mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes. Trans-ancestry genetic risk scores enhance transferability across populations.

The authors propose an optical encryption platform that enhances security and throughput through scattering multiplexing ptychography, realizing encryption at a scale of 10-megapixel pixels with 1.23 µm resolution.

Probing the interfacial structure of catalysts under CO₂ electrolysis is crucial. Here, the authors report a well-defined bimetallic silver-copper heterostructure to unravel an intermediate-regulated interfacial restructuring behavior, which promotes CO₂ electroreduction to multi-carbon products.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

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.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.