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To demonstrate charge transfer in different Marcus regimes in an organic semiconductor, precise tuning of the material’s electronic properties is required. Here, the authors use a three-terminal hot-electron technique to access the Marcus regimes for electronic transport in organic thin films.

Individual tumours are heterogeneous with regards to genetic mutations. In this study, the authors use sequencing to follow multiple tumour and plasma samples over 3 years from a breast cancer patient and show mutations detected in the plasma samples could partially reproduce the clonal nature of the primary tumour.

Characterizing the interference of phonons at the single-molecule level remains a challenging task. Here, the authors observe and characterize destructive phonon interference in molecular junctions at room temperature.

Single-nucleus and single-cell RNA sequencing plus spatial profiling with four methods of core biopsies from 60 patients with metastatic breast cancer reveal patient-specific gene expression programs of breast cancer metastases that are maintained across time, site of metastasis and spatial profiling method, with spatial phenotypes correlating with microenvironmental features.

Wind tunnel experiments and numerical modelling reveal the existence of two distinct ripples on Earth: centimetre-scale impact ripples and decimetre-scale hydrodynamic ripples, akin to those in water and on Mars.

A diverse, multidisciplinary panel of 386 experts in COVID-19 response from 112 countries provides health and social policy actions to address inadequacies in the pandemic response and help to bring this public health threat to an end.

Much effort has recently been devoted to understanding the genomics of breast cancer. In this study, the authors integrate somatic mutation data with previously published copy number aberration and gene expression information for nearly 2,500 breast cancer samples.

Liquid biopsy-based tests have demonstrated potential as a minimally invasive and broadly applicable approach to simultaneously screen individuals for multiple cancer types. In this Review, Wan, Sasieni and Rosenfeld discuss the promises and limitations of such multi-cancer early detection tests as well as future directions for this field.

High-resolution sampling across thousands of kilometres of open ocean reveals a hotspot of viruses at the boundary of major oceanic gyres that, at times, shaped the abundance and biogeography of marine picocyanobacteria.

Response to treatment in high grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is highly variable. Here, the authors leverage a radiogenomic model to predict neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in HGSOC, including clinical data, medical imaging, and blood-based biomarkers such as CA-125 and ctDNA features.

Primary prostate tumours are known to be genetically heterogeneous and clonal selection has the potential to drive metastasis. Here Hong et al. show that the acquisition of TP53 mutations is linked to clonal expansion and metastatic progression to lethality.

A photoconductor is a material in which electrical conductivity changes when it is illuminated — invariably increasing in response to impinging light. However, here it is shown that nanoparticle-based materials can be engineered, through the careful choice of the molecules used to stabilize the nanoparticles, to exhibit negative photoconductance: conductivity in these materials decreases in the presence of light.

The 20S particle is part of the 26S proteasome, but also exists as a free complex. Here, the authors outline signature activities of the 20S and combine chemical, structural, functional and proteomic assays to show that the 20S can degrade ubiquitin tags along with conjugated substrates.

Moses, Atlan et al. profile the killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) gonad using single-cell sequencing and reveal that genetic germline depletion induces sexually dimorphic phenotypes, enhancing lifespan in male fish and somatic repair in females.

Glioma-associated microglia/macrophages are central drivers of brain tumor pathology. Here the authors characterize the role of the P-selectin/PSGL-1 axis in the cross-talk between glioblastoma cells and microglia/macrophages and show that the therapeutic targeting of P-selectin limits glioblastoma progression in preclinical models.

A refined spatial sampling technique transforms standard RNA sequencing into a spatial transcriptomics method.

Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) analysis has the potential to improve prognostication, molecular profiling and disease monitoring in patients with cancer. This Review summarizes recent advances, potential applications in cancer research and personalized oncology, and the introduction of ctDNA into clinical use.

Rebecca Fitzgerald and colleagues used genome sequence analyses to study the progression from premalignant Barrett's esophagus to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and found that the majority of recurrently mutated genes in EAC were also mutated in precursor lesions and that only mutations in TP53 and SMAD4 were stage specific.

If left unrepaired, meiotic DSBs are toxic to mammalian cells, thus oocytes in which DSBs persist are eliminated by the DNA-damage checkpoint. Here the authors provide insights into the roles of PUMA, NOXA and BAX during DNA damage checkpoint that eliminates Dmc1^−/− and Msh5^−/− oocytes.

Gonadal fate in mammals is determined during embryogenesis and is actively maintained in adulthood. This study shows that E3-SUMO ligase activity of TRIM28 is required for ovarian identity maintenance and testicular-specific gene repression in mouse adult ovary; in its absence, ovarian granulosa cells transdifferentiate to Sertoli cells.

High-dose ipilimumab plus nivolumab in locoregionally advanced urothelial cancer led to a higher pathological complete response rate than low-dose ipilimumab in cohort 2. Presurgical absence of plasma (but not urinary) circulating tumor DNA correlated with clinical outcome.

A proof of principle study shows that by exome sequencing of cell-free circulating DNA from cancer patient plasma samples, the genomic evolution of metastatic cancers and the acquisition of resistance in response to therapy can be tracked over time.

This review provides an overview of analysis and experimental design of single-cell omics in the brain, emphasizing epigenomics and spatial omics. The authors discuss how the computational and experimental designs are interlinked, with both being guided by the biological questions.

Surface-enhanced Raman emission can measure the effective temperatures both of the vibrational modes and the flowing electrons in a nanoscale junction.

Morris Brown and colleagues identify somatic mutations in ATP1A1 and CACNA1D in aldosterone-producing adenomas with features resembling zonaglomerulosa cells. They further show that the ATP1A1 mutations cause inward leak currents under physiological conditions, whereas the CACNA1D mutations induce a shift of voltage-dependent gating to more negative potentials and suppress channel inactivation.

Ubiquitylation regulates essentially all of the intracellular processes in eukaryotes by modifying numerous cellular proteins in a spatially and temporally controlled manner. Many components of the ubiquitin–proteasome system are themselves modified by ubiquitylation; this regulates their activity or targets them for degradation.

Single-cell or single-nucleus RNA-sequencing experiments form a basis for biological insights about cell types and states, but they require orthogonal experiments to confirm the functional relevance of their findings. Here the authors discuss options to support such findings and their challenges.

Palayam, Ganapathy, Guercio et al. determine the crystal structure of the photosensory domain of Arabidopsis Cryptochrome-2 (CRY2) in a tetrameric active state, identifying critical residues that participate in photo-induced oligomerization of CRY2. This study offers an updated model of CRY’s photoactivation mechanism.

Guercio et al., combine structural biology, biochemistry, and plant biology to reveal the dual functions of evolutionarily diverged Pisum KAI2A and KAI2B as both receptors and enzymes with distinct ligand selectivity, and propose adaptive sensitivity to strigolactone phytohormones by KAI2B. They reported the structures of KAI2 in apo and ligand intermediate -bound states that further illuminate KAI2s catalysis mechanism.