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Fittipaldi et al. examined how heterogeneity affects social cognition in populations over 50 years old by using advanced neuroimaging techniques and social cognition assessments in a diverse sample of over 1,000 adults across nine countries.

HLA-independent T cell receptors, in which the heavy and light chains of a chimeric antigen receptor are incorporated into the endogenous T cell receptor locus, are more effective than CD28-based chimeric antigen receptors at targeting tumors with low antigen expression.

An improved, fully re-annotated Aedes aegypti genome assembly (AaegL5) provides insights into the sex-determining M locus, chemosensory systems that help mosquitoes to hunt humans and loci involved in insecticide resistance and will help to generate intervention strategies to fight this deadly disease vector.

Here, using metagenomic profiling in 180 individuals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the authors find associations between the gut microbiome and konzo, a neurodegenerative disease that mostly affects children and is caused by the consumption improperly processed cassava.

Resident microbiota contribute to HIV and EBV infection in a germ-free humanized mouse model.

Frequent dispersal and short-lived local transmission clusters fuelled the 2013–2016 Ebola virus epidemic in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Simulations of the SARS-CoV-2 proteome that include over 0.1 s of aggregate data are reported. Spike opening was observed, revealing cryptic epitopes that differ between variants, explaining differential interactions with antibodies and receptors that determine pathogenicity. The cryptic pockets described provide new targets for antivirals and a wealth of mechanistic insight.

Comparative analysis of human, cow and mouse embryos shows that a mechanism involving atypical protein kinase C initiates the trophectoderm program during the morula stage in these three species.

Modelling highlights international travel as the main driver of the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 to Europe and the USA, and suggests that introductions and local transmission may have begun in January 2020.

This report by the Consortium for Refractive Error and Myopia uses gene-environment-wide interaction study (GEWIS) to identify genetic loci that affect environmental influence in myopia development, and identifies ethnic specific genetic loci that attribute to eye refractive errors.

Environmental influences during prenatal development may have implications for health and disease later in life. Here, Czamara et al. assess DNA methylation in cord blood from new-born under various models including environmental and genetic effects individually and their additive or interaction effects.

Unique biological, exposomal, economic and sociocultural factors shape resilience and brain health across the globe; this Review discusses underlying mechanisms of resilience, measurement approaches, operationalization and research gaps.

This study develops a wide-ranging index to assess the many factors that contribute to the health and benefits of the oceans, and the scores for all costal nations are assessed.

Genome editing in human zygotes shows that OCT4 is required for normal development at an earlier stage in humans than in mice.

Tuberculous meningitis is difficult to differentiate from meningitis caused by other pathogens. Here, the authors combine metagenomics-based pathogen detection in cerebrospinal fluid with a host gene expression-based machine learning classifier for diagnosis.

The spatial and frontal QRS-T angles are electrocardiographic (ECG) predictors for arrhythmia. This work used genetic analyses to identify associated loci and pathways, and explore their relationships with other ECG traits and cardiovascular disease.

Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma japonicum are the pathogenic agents that cause the tropical disease schistosomiasis. Here, and in an accompanying paper, the genomes of these two flatworms are sequenced and analysed. The results provide insights into the molecular architecture and host interactions of the flatworms, as well as avenues for future development of targeted interventions for schistosomiasis.

The authors report a new biomimetic nanodelivery platform in which polymeric nanoparticles enclosed in the plasma membrane of human platelets are used for disease-relevant targeting, and the therapeutic potential of the concept is demonstrated in animal models of coronary restenosis and systemic bacterial infection.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms—SNPs—have been identified for prostate cancer but whether these SNPs alter the expression of genes is largely unknown. In this study, the authors search for genes located within 2 Mb of the SNPs and identify SNPs that influence gene expression, so called expression quantitative trait loci.

Several mosquito-transmitted viruses cocirculate in the Americas, but the potential for co-transmission is unknown. Here, Rückertet al. show that Aedes aegyptimosquitos have the potential to co-transmit chikungunya, dengue and Zika viruses and that coinfection does not overall affect dissemination or transmission rates.

Owing to the limited operating space available, robot-assisted approaches have been rapidly adopted for procedures involving the retroperitoneal space. In this Review the authors describe the outcomes of patients undergoing robot-assisted procedures, including partial nephrectomy, radical nephrectomy, retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, nephroureterectomy and adrenalectomy, in addition to the potential of novel techniques.

Latin America and the Caribbean remain largely underrepresented in psychiatric genetics research. This Review highlights the need for more research in these populations to advance genetic insights and ensure equitable precision medicine access.

Feedback between biological and economic systems may lead to persistent poverty traps. Coupling dynamic population ecology and economic growth models reveals how to build for resilience in human health and subsistence.

The US COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub produced medium to long term projections based on different epidemic scenarios. In this study, the authors evaluate 14 rounds of projections by comparing them to the epidemic trajectories that occurred, and discuss lessons learned for future similar projects.

SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance has been important for informing pandemic responses but many regions remain under-sampled, limiting knowledge of circulating strains. Here, the authors sequence 378 isolates from Nigeria and identify two strains that appear to be important locally though globally uncommon.

Complex polyketides are usually produced by microbes, whereas the origin of polyketides found in animals remained unknown. This study shows that sacoglossan animals, such as sea slugs, employ fatty acid synthase-like proteins to produce microbe-like polyketides.

A combination of spectroscopy, metagenomics, and synthetic biology enables the characterization of the antiviral divamides, a class of lanthipeptide natural products in which even minor changes in structure lead to different biological activities.

Combining a map of human and animal melioidosis cases and the presence of environmental Burkholderia pseudomallei in a formal modelling framework to estimate the global burden of the disease reveals that it is severely under-reported.

Here, Imamuraet al. conduct meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies to identify novel susceptibility loci for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the Japanese population. By doing so, this study shows that both ethnicity-specific and ethnically-shared genetic loci can contribute to T2D risk.

The Malaria Genomic Epidemiology Network reports a large multicenter association study for severe malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum in 11,890 cases and 17,441 controls from 12 locations in Africa, Asia and Oceania. They examine 27 loci previously associated with severe malaria and replicate associations at the HBB, ABO, ATP2B4, G6PD and CD40LG loci, but they fail to replicate other previously reported associations.