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Research on sustainable diets has primarily focused on human and planetary health, neglecting workers in food value chains. This study quantifies the risk of forced labour embedded in five different diets in the USA, underscoring the need to integrate such risk in sustainable diet transition efforts.

An understanding of the molecular mechanisms promoting the generation of immunoregulatory and tumour-promoting monocytes and macrophages is key to breaking the cycle of tumour myelopoiesis and developing more effective myeloid-targeting therapies.

In a case of obligate cross-species cloning, female ants of Messor ibericus need to clone males of Messor structor to obtain sperm for producing the worker caste, resulting in males from the same mother having distinct genomes and morphologies.

Genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screening reveals novel modulators of heparan sulfate proteoglycans that regulate cellular uptake of α-synuclein fibrils, including in human dopaminergic neurons.

Piraino, Chen, Mereness et al use a salivary gland tissue chip for high-content radioprotective drug discovery. Three drugs are identified that exhibit higher potency and equivalent radioprotection to Amifostine, the only FDA approved drug that is rarely used clinically due to severe side effects and lack of efficacy.

Benoit et al. present high-resolution structures of dimeric microtubule-bound KIF1A, including its pathogenic P305L mutant. Their findings provide insights into KIF1A’s motility mechanism and potential therapies for associated neurological disorders.

The identification of two cryptic species of the fungal pathogen that causes white-nose disease in bats highlights the need to integrate studies of genetic variability in pathogens into disease surveillance, management and prevention strategies.

Dengue and chikungunya are an increasing public health concern in Europe, and Italy is particularly affected. Here, the authors analyse travel-related cases and outbreaks in Italy from 2006 to 2023 and assess current transmission risks.

Measurements of the conformations adopted by isolated proteins at low temperatures show remarkable plasticity including substantial cold induced restructuring and complex frozen conformational landscapes for disordered proteins in the absence of solvent.

Repeated vaccination is needed to maintain high levels of SARS-CoV-2 immunity in vulnerable populations, but there is concern that it could lead to immune exhaustion. Here, the authors assess the evidence for immune exhaustion following multiple SARS-CoV-2 vaccination three vulnerable population cohorts in Canada.

The Wnt receptor Frizzled (FZD) family is crucial for both canonical (β-catenin dependent) and non-canonical (β-catenin independent) Wnt signalling. Here, the authors present the structures of FZD3 in complex with extracellular and intracellular binding nanobodies (Nbs), elucidating extracellular and intracellular interaction surfaces of functional and potentially therapeutic significance.

Although the triiodide/iodide redox couple works efficiently in dye-sensitized solar cells it restricts functionality by absorbing visible light. Now, a disulfide/thiolate redox couple that has negligible absorption in the visible spectral range is presented, which in conjunction with a sensitized heterojunction, displays an efficiency of 6.4% under standard illumination test conditions.

Most mammalian TAD boundaries, which separate functional chromosomal domains, bind the CTCF protein. Here, the authors identify multi-level clustering of CTCF binding sites at TAD boundaries and confirm their individual contribution to TAD formation.

Gene duplication and subsequent paralogue diversification are major obstacles to genotype-to-phenotype predictability.

Here the authors find that erythroblasts of myelodysplastic syndromes with SF3B1 mutation leading to inefficient erythropoiesis show DNA replication stress with accelerated forks and reduced R-loops. Restoring R-loops by a histone deacetylase inhibitor rescues erythroid differentiation.

DNA:RNA hybrids are linked to genetic instability in several pathological situations. Here, the authors report that various types of DNA lesions can trigger hybrid formation in yeast and humans, calling for a re-examination of the causality between these structures and genetic instability.

Analysis of snRNA genes in individuals with rare disorders identifies de novo and recurrent variants in RNU5B-1 and RNU5A-1, in addition to previously unreported cases with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in RNU4-2.

In a cluster-randomized trial conducted across 70 medical centers in six countries, a 16-week structured educational program for healthcare providers improved adherence to guidelines for rhythm control but not for stroke prevention in individuals with atrial fibrillation.

Exome sequencing of 851 trios from more than 2,500 individuals finds 187 genes with de novo mutations that contribute to meningomyelocele (spina bifida) and highlights critical pathways required for neural tube closure.

Wood density is a key control on tree biomass, and understanding its spatial variation improves estimates of forest carbon stock. Sullivan et al. measure >900 forest plots to quantify wood density and produce high resolution maps of its variation across South American tropical forests.

The authors show that Trpm5, but not Trpm4, is the main Na+ -permeant channel mediating the warmth-activated ICaN in lumbar motoneurons. Trpm5 is also critical in generating plateau potentials in bistable motoneurons that are essential for producing a postural tone in hindlimbs and amplifying the locomotor output.

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

Estimates from the Global Dietary Database indicated that 2.2 million new type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cardiovascular disease cases were attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages worldwide in 2020, with the highest burdens in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

A multinational randomized trial shows that task-sharing via nonspecialist providers and the use of telemedicine platforms, delivery models that can overcome barriers to scalability and access, are noninferior to specialists and in-person models for treating perinatal depression.

Clinical management of pancreatic cancer remains challenging. Here, the authors suggest SMARCD3 as a potential epigenetic dependency establishing the metabolic landscape in aggressive pancreatic cancer cells and as a potential therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer.

Global-scale analyses of marine, terrestrial and freshwater assemblages found that temporal rates of species replacement were faster in locations with faster temperature change, including warming and cooling, and vulnerable assemblages were especially responsive.

The spatial architecture of the lung cancer microenvironment could influence the survival outlook and therapeutic options of patients. Here the authors find distinct patterns and composition of immune cells when comparing lung adenocarcinomas and lung squamous cell carcinomas, paving way for precision immune therapy according to histological subtype.

A population of neutrophils in the skin produces extracellular matrix, providing a defence strategy by reinforcing the barrier properties of the skin and helping to block the entry of pathogens.

FZD₇ is a class F GPCR involved in intestinal epithelium homeostasis. Using cryo-EM, the authors determine the structure of inactive FZD₇ and compare it with the G-protein-bound form. They refine the FZD activation mechanisms and identify a water pocket and an allosteric cholesterol binding site.

The mechanisms regulating mitochondrial architecture in neurons remain unclear. The authors report that in dendrites, mitochondria structure is specified by the CAMKK2-AMPK pathway through compartment-specific and activity-dependent levels of fission.