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An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus has recently caused outbreaks in dairy cattle herds in the United States. Here, the authors describe the clinical features and associated economic impacts of an outbreak at a farm in Ohio between March and April 2024.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Biopharma’s reawakened interest in cardiovascular diseases spans new targets and modalities, with more convenient formulations to boost access and adherence.

The vaginal microbiome is a critical determinant of health. Here, the authors present VIRGO2, a gene catalog describing these microbial communities and analyze vaginal metagenomes and metatranscriptomes to derive insights into their function and ecology.

As presented at the ESMO Congress 2025: Results of the phase 2/3 AGITG DYNAMIC-III trial show that de-escalated chemotherapy based on ctDNA-negative status in patients with stage III colon cancer did not meet non-inferiority for 3-year recurrence-free survival when compared to standard of care, although it enables better informed treatment decisions.

Podoconiosis is triggered by long term barefoot exposure to volcanic red clay soil. Here, Negash et al characterise the immune profile of podoconiosis patients to show this disease is associated with high levels of immune activation and inflammation.

Vaclav Smil’s latest book investigates the cost of energy use on a planet with finite resources. Melanie Moses praises the result.

2022 saw a 25% drop in new drug approvals and a less predictable regulator.

Investment and funding has continued to flow into biotech, unlike most business sectors. But with healthcare and hospital budgets increasingly under pressure, do belt-tightening and consolidation lie ahead? Melanie Senior investigates, with additional reporting by Riku Lähteenmäki.

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.

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.

Openshaw and colleagues find myeloid inflammation and complement activation signatures in patients with long COVID who were previously hospitalized.

A large resource of shared tumor neoepitopes aims to accelerate cancer immunotherapy.

High contiguity human genomes can be assembled de novo in 6 h using nanopore long-read sequences and the Shasta toolkit.

Fine-mapping of causal variants and integration of epigenetic and chromatin conformation data identify likely target genes for 150 breast cancer risk regions.

Novartis' newly approved heart failure therapy Entresto could set precedents by bringing outcome-based pricing for a primary care drug to the United States.

Timothy Frayling, Joel Hirschhorn, Peter Visscher and colleagues report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for adult height in 253,288 individuals. They identify 697 variants in 423 loci significantly associated with adult height and find that these variants cluster in pathways involved in growth and together explain one-fifth of the heritability for this trait.

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 exact function of kinetochore proteins in meiosis remains unclear. Using live imaging of C. elegans oocytes, the authors systematically study the contribution of each kinetochore sub-complex and describe a push-pull mechanism that confers robustness to chromosome segregation.

A region on chromosome 19p13 is associated with the risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer. Here, the authors genotyped SNPs in this region in thousands of breast and ovarian cancer patients and identified SNPs associated with three genes, which were analysed with functional studies.

DNA methylation is associated with complex traits and the expression of genes and proteins. Here, Zaghlool et al. perform epigenome-wide association studies for 1,123 plasma proteins, replicate obtained protein (p)QTMs in an independent cohort and find overlap of pQTMs with expression QTMs and previously reported disease associations.

Proponents of disease prevention and wellness remain bullish, despite Arivale’s demise.

Cell and gene therapies offer opportunities for treating disease. Here, the authors conduct a systematic review of the evidence of patient and public perceptions of gene and cell therapies, and highlight the need for appropriate patient and public education, noting that patient perception, alongside evidence of clinical and cost-effectiveness, will be central to uptake and use of these therapies.

Ageing increases the risk of many diseases. Here the authors compare blood cell transcriptomes of over 14,000 individuals and identify a set of about 1,500 genes that are differently expressed with age, shedding light on transcriptional programs linked to the ageing process and age-associated diseases.

The implementation gap between national climate targets and actual policies has been seen as a main barrier for decarbonization. Here researchers show it is rooted in the structural limitation of states and discuss future research directions to promote the emergence of transformative states.

Stretchable and biodegradable elastic biogels based on gelatin, glucose, glycerol and citric acid are realized, whose mechanical properties can be adapted to a broad range of applications in soft robotics and wearable electronics.

Vaccination is effective in protecting from COVID-19. Here the authors report immune responses and breakthrough infections in twice-vaccinated patients receiving anti-TNF treatments for inflammatory bowel disease, and find dampened vaccine responses that implicate the need of adapted vaccination schedules for these patients.

Producing sufficient food to support the planet’s growing population places enormous strain on critical ecosystems. Quantifying and mapping the individual and cumulative pressures from greenhouse gases, freshwater use, habitat disturbance and nutrient pollution provides crucial insight into producing lower-impact, more sustainable foods.

Biopharma M&A is back and IPOs are possible, but most biotechs aren’t out of the woods.

Contrary to the view that urbanization is a major driver of the global rise in obesity, the global increase in body-mass index is shown to be mostly due to increases in the body-mass indexes of rural populations.

A retrospective analysis of primary care records in the United Kingdom reveals individual symptoms associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections, which persisted for 12 weeks or more after infection, as well as risk factors associated with developing long COVID.

After a difficult three years, biotech financing may slowly be returning to health.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

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.