Search

Genetic and isotopic analyses of samples from the northeast Atlantic reveal that suspended prokaryotic dark carbon fixation substantially fuels carbon inputs below the sunlit ocean, while particle-attached communities make an overlooked contribution to carbon demand.

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.

AvrPm4 is a chimeric powdery mildew effector that is recognized by the wheat kinase fusion resistance protein Pm4. The pathogen can evade Pm4 recognition by expressing the suppressor SvrPm4, an RNase-like effector with multiple roles.

Radiation reaction (RR) on particles in strong fields is the subject of intense experimental research, but previous efforts lacked statistical significance due to the extreme regimes required. Here, the authors report a 5σ observation of RR and obtain strong, quantitative evidence favouring quantum models over classical, using an all-optical setup where electrons are accelerated by a laser in a gas jet before colliding with a second, intense pulse.

Spatial transcriptomics (ST) technologies link tissue morphology with gene expression, but remain expensive to use; furthermore, models that predict ST data from histopathology images possess considerable limitations. Here, the authors develop STimage, a deep learning probabilistic framework for ST prediction from histopathology images while prioritising robustness and interpretability.

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.

High-resolution flare footpoint observations in the extreme ultraviolet and X-rays were taken by Solar Orbiter. Combined with simulations, the results reveal that the dominant mechanism carrying flare energy through the Sun’s atmosphere can vary on small spatial scales.

EGFR inhibitors are standard of care in patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) but resistance often develops. Here the authors report that the evolution of EGFR inhibitor resistance in EGFR-mutant NSCLC results in a sensitivity to the compound, MCB-613, and investigate the underlying mechanism of action.

Using synthesized experimental and observational data, Cen et al. revealed that anthropogenic nitrogen deposition has increased global forest soil CO₂ emissions by ~5%, despite considerable spatial variation in the effects of nitrogen deposition.

The intestinal microbiome is shaped by genetics and environment. Here, the authors show in rats that host genetic effects, including indirect social effects, influence microbiome composition, identify replicated loci, and reveal mechanisms contributing to microbiome heritability.

Cardiac ryanodine receptors (RyR2) are critical for heart contraction. Here, the authors use 3D MINFLUX microscopy to image receptor subunits and RyR2 orientation with nanometre resolution, thereby providing a molecular view of the organisation and clustering of these cardiac muscle receptors.

T-cell therapies have huge potential but face technical limitations. Here, the authors report on a dextran-based nanoparticle platform that efficiently expands T cells, enhances CAR T-cell potency, persistence, and anti-tumour efficacy, using simpler and faster methods than current techniques.

A multitrait fine-mapping method, mvSuSiE, improves power and resolution over single-trait methods for identifying putative causal variants from genetic association data.

Eight decades of forest plot monitoring show a pervasive increase in tree mortality across Australia’s forest biomes driven by climate change, jeopardizing their role as enduring carbon sinks.

Addressing how the nitrogen-induced changes in plant diversity differ from those in soil organisms is critical. This global meta-analysis suggests that nitrogen enrichment has stronger negative effects on plant diversity but modest to negligible effects on soil bacterial and fungal diversity.

Vassy, Dornisch and colleagues developed a genomics-based prostate cancer risk model to support a randomized clinical trial of precision screening in a national healthcare system.

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.

Here, the authors examine the mechanisms behind cheatgrass’s successful invasion of North American ecosystems. Their genetic analyses and common garden experiments demonstrate that multiple introductions and migrations facilitated cheatgrass local adaptation.

The zebra finch robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA) directs singing by providing descending projections to brainstem motor neurons. The authors show that electrophysiological characteristics of RA neurons rely on resurgent Na+ currents that emerge early during song development only in males.

Battery technology has advanced at extraordinary speed over the past decade, yet meeting the world’s accelerating electrification needs will require both continued evolution of lithium-ion systems and further progress in next-generation chemistries, writes Peter Bruce.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

High-depth sequencing of non-cancerous tissue from patients with metastatic cancer reveals single-base mutational signatures of alcohol, smoking and cancer treatments, and reveals how exogenous factors, including cancer therapies, affect somatic cell evolution.

Core excitons are strongly localised excitonic states impacting x-ray absorption and resonant inelastic scattering (RIXS) spectra. Here, the authors demonstrate an application of free electron laser-driven ultrafast RIXS spectroscopy to study previously unclear aspects of core exciton-phonon interactions in graphite.

This study presents a BRET biosensor that measures how anticancer drugs cooperatively engage PRMT5 complexes in cells, revealing how cellular metabolites such as SAM and MTA enhance drug action and enable precision therapies for MTAP-deleted tumors.

Recent developments in trapped-ion platforms are opening towards quantum simulation of chemical dynamics. Here, the authors demonstrate independent control of spin-phonon coupling and reservoir engineering in a two-mode trapped-ion system to simulate excitation transfer dynamics.

A high-resolution estimate finds about 300,000 cubic kilometers of accessible groundwater across North America, which reduces uncertainty in freshwater distribution and bridges gaps between remote sensing and field data.

Here the authors use a genome-wide approach to identify genetic variants associated with RNA isoform variation, uncovering new links between transcriptional regulation and complex traits. The findings can advance understanding of disease mechanisms.

During mitosis, initially spherical chromosomes fold into visibly cylindrical structures with spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking before resolving into sister chromatids. Here, the authors develop a mechanistic model that captures the roles of distinct active motors in this process and analyze the resulting order, defects, and mechanical properties of the mitotic chromosome structure.

The role of structural variants (SVs) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been understudied. In this study, the authors leverage 859 high-quality, diverse, long-read assemblies to construct pangenome reference graphs (PRGs).

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

In the nematode C. elegans, cohesin creates specifically at active enhancers chromatin 3D structures named fountains. Cohesin artificial cleavage disrupts fountains and changes neuronal gene expression, function and animal behavior.

Chan and colleagues report that tumor ecosystem and microbiome features are associated with response to anti-PD-L1 avelumab plus chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.

This study shows how the links between somatic passenger mutations in tumors and normal cell transcriptomes can be used to infer cell-of-origin in lung adenocarcinoma.

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.

The discovery of a vast reservoir of primordial neutral hydrogen gas surrounding a young galaxy cluster just one billion years after the Big Bang offers new insight into how the first large cosmic structures assembled.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.

Inspired by dynamic textural modulation in cephalopod skin, polymer films whose colour and surface texture can be dynamically and independently controlled are developed and demonstrated using standard electron-beam patterning tools.

Lithium tantalate is heterogeneously integrated with silicon photonic integrated circuits via a micro-transfer printing process in a manner fully compatible with existing workflows. A Mach–Zehnder modulator with an insertion loss of 2.9 dB and 70 GHz operation is demonstrated.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

Adding tunable photon-photon nonlinearities to programmable photonic circuits would greatly extend their capabilities. Here, the authors demonstrate this by embedding a photonic-crystal waveguide nanostructure hosting an InAs quantum dot within a programmable linear optical circuit, and using it to realise a proof-of-concept quantum simulation of anharmonic molecular vibrational dynamics.

As presented at the ESMO Congress 2025: In patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumours, including mesothelioma, treatment with a first-in-class inhibitor of the Hippo−YAP−TEAD pathway was safe and led to encouraging clinical response rates in patients with mesothelioma.

Authors use metagenomic environmental surveillance in Cambodian live-bird markets and found that air sampling captured the greatest diversity of poultry viruses. It outperformed traditional swabs, identifying undetected H5N1 clades.

Structure-specific endonucleases play an important role in several DNA repair pathways. Here the authors present structures of the endonuclease XPF-ERCC1 in complex with SLX4, SLX4IP, and DNA. Combined with functional analysis, these results provide insight into the mechanisms of XPF-ERCC1 recruitment and activation during DNA repair.

The authors employ a 3D printing technique to induce a triple-twinned martensitic microstructure in a commercial titanium alloy, achieving both high strength and enhanced strain hardening.

The 4D Nucleome Project demonstrates the use of genomic assays and computational methods to measure genome folding and then predict genomic structure from DNA sequence, facilitating the discovery of potential effects of genetic variants, including variants associated with disease, on genome structure and function.

Serapio-García, Safdari and colleagues develop a method based on psychometric tests to measure and validate personality-like traits in LLMs. Large, instruction-tuned models give reliable personality measurement results, and specific personality profiles can be mimicked in downstream tasks.

Those studying erosion in mountain regions wrestle with factors such as what builds mountains, and how climate affects erosive forces. Yet perhaps a physically based theory is what is most needed.

How individual neurons in the human lateral occipital complex respond to perceptually suppressed visual input remains unclear. Here, the authors demonstrate that while most neurons track perceptual awareness in a graded fashion, a smaller subset instead encodes the visual input itself.