Search

The authors use atomistic calculations with machine-learned interatomic potentials to show that dislocation motion in metals like iron and tungsten involves a nearly constant activation entropy, challenging prior models and improving strength predictions.

Aqueous clusters are important in a variety of biological and materials systems. Here Willset al. develop a theoretical approach based on a group additivity relationship which allows the evaluation of a wide range of clusters without the need of cumbersome ab initiocalculations.

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.

Here the authors perform a trans expression quantitative trait locus meta-analysis study of over 3,700 people and link a USP18 variant to expression of 50 inflammation genes and lupus risk, highlighting how genetic regulation of immune responses drives autoimmune disease and informs new therapies.

By controlling oxygen partial pressure, this study coerces Mn and Fe into divalent states, stabilizing seven new high-entropy rock salt oxides, and introduces oxygen chemical potential as a key design axis for predictive synthesis.

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

Organic sulfur compounds are vital to life but often overlooked in the sulfur cycle, especially in the subsurface. Subsurface microbes can metabolize diverse organosulfur compounds, hinting at a more complex sulfur cycle than previously thought.

Capture of CO₂ from the air requires substantial amounts of energy. Here the authors report molten-carbonate membranes to concentrate CO₂ from 400 ppm input streams that exploit ambient energy in the form of humidity differences.

In spite of numerous works, the nature of high activity of Cu/ZnO catalyst in methanol synthesis remains the subject of intensive debate. Here, the authors study the carbon dioxide hydrogenation mechanism using high-pressure operando techniques which allow them to unify different, seemingly contradicting, models.

The arcuate fascicle connection with the middle temporal gyrus has been considered unique to humans. Using high-resolution diffusion MRI, the authors systematically show this connection in chimpanzees, suggesting a gradual evolution of the language network.

The contribution of vibrations to the stability of high-entropy ceramics is still controversial. Here the authors computationally integrate disorder parameterization, phonon modelling, and thermodynamic characterization to investigate the role of vibrations to the stability of high-entropy carbides.

The evolution of Pd active centers in size and spatial distribution often leads to irreversible deactivation in many high-temperature catalytic processes. Here the authors demonstrate the use of defective alumina (Al₂O_3-x) as a catalyst support to anchor Pd atoms and suppress the growth of Pd clusters in catalytic methane oxidation.

Large-scale combination drug screens in cancer are extremely challenging because of the immense number of possible combinations. Here, the authors develop BATCHIE, a Bayesian active learning platform to design scalable and maximally informative drug combination screening assays; this is validated in retrospective and prospective cancer studies.

GIANT, a genetically informed brain atlas, integrates genetic heritability with neuroanatomy. It shows strong neuroanatomical validity and surpasses traditional atlases in discovery power for brain imaging genomics.

Defined levels of SARS-CoV-2-specific binding and neutralizing antibodies elicited by the COVID-19 vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 are identified as correlates of protection against symptomatic infection.

The evolution of oceanic redox state in the past is poorly known. Here, the authors present a temporal record of banded iron formations and marine red beds, which indicate deep-ocean oxygenation occurred in the middle Ediacaran, coinciding with the onset of widespread marine red beds.

Fe-exchanged zeolite catalysts are known for their ability to remediate NO_x and N₂O emissions, but their reactivity in mixed streams of NO and N₂O remains unclear. Now a suite of operando spectroscopies reveals the active Fe species involved in the process and their synergistic effect during the simultaneous conversion of these pollutants.

Some cancer cells exhibit high loads of reactive iron in lysosomes, and this feature is exploited by using fentomycin-1, a newly developed small molecule, to induce ferroptosis.

Glass forming liquids near the glass transition exhibit spatially heterogeneous dynamics, but it remains challenging to study their dynamics and structural origin on an atomic scale. Zhang et al. visualize liquid dynamics at a sub-nanometer and millisecond resolution using electron correlation microscopy.

Stabilization from aromatic electron delocalization is highly favourable so it is typically preserved in even grossly distorted molecules. Now, peripheral overcrowding of an aromatic tropylium has been shown to cause sufficient geometric strain to rupture aromaticity, forming a non-aromatic bicyclic system that is in rapid equilibrium with its aromatic counterpart.

Tuning the catalytic activity of metal nanoparticles by encapsulation is a long known process, but mechanistically poorly understood. Here, Beck and colleagues reveal the encapsulation mechanism by support material and the outstanding role of oxygen in the encapsulation mechanism by extensive in situ characterization.

This report from the 1000 Genomes Project describes the genomes of 1,092 individuals from 14 human populations, providing a resource for common and low-frequency variant analysis in individuals from diverse populations; hundreds of rare non-coding variants at conserved sites, such as motif-disrupting changes in transcription-factor-binding sites, can be found in each individual.

The irradiation of crystalline materials is known to create various types of lattice defects, which can degrade mechanical performance. Here, Xu et al. observe the in-situnucleation and growth of atomic-scale voids in magnesium during electron irradiation.

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.

Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

Electrochemical coupling of biomass valorization with CO2 conversion provides a promising approach to generate value-added chemicals on both sides. However, bifunctional catalysts are lacking. Here the authors report oxygen-vacancy-rich indium oxyhydroxide as a bifunctional catalyst for CO2 reduction to formate and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural electrooxidation to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid with faradaic efficiencies for both > 90.0%.

Ion exchange at charged mineral-water interfaces is an important geochemical process, but a molecular-level understanding is still required. Here, the authors probe real-time variations of the interfacial ion exchange dynamics at the muscovite-water interface, providing a general picture of adsorbed ion coverage and speciation.

The affected cellular populations during Alzheimer’s disease progression remain understudied. Here the authors use a cohort of 84 donors, quantitative neuropathology and multimodal datasets from the BRAIN Initiative. Their pseudoprogression analysis revealed two disease phases.

Most chemical reactions proceed downhill without external energy input. Here, authors employ an electronic flyback and a boost converter to store energy and spontaneously drive an uphill reaction. The concept is exhibited by an enzymatic biofuel cell, driving water splitting in a single compartment.

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.

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.

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.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.