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Genome-wide ancestry profiles of four individuals, dating to 8,000 and 3,000 years before present, from the archaeological site of Shum Laka (Cameroon) shed light on the deep population history of sub-Saharan Africa.

How host cells induce the release of DNA from cytosolic bacteria is unclear. Broz and colleagues show that the guanylate-binding proteins GBP2 and GBP5 trigger bacteriolysis in infected host cells and thereby allow recognition by the sensor AIM2.

Trivalent lanthanides are typically described using an ionic picture that leads to localized magnetic moments. Here authors show that the “textbook” description of lanthanides fails for Pr⁴⁺ ions where the hierarchy of single-ion energy scales can be tailored to explore correlated phenomena in quantum materials.

Genes encoding two pore-forming toxins (γ-haemolysins HlgAB and HlgCB) are present in almost all human Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Here Spaan et al.show that HlgAB and HlgCB target different phagocyte types by interacting with specific chemokine receptors and complement receptors, respectively.

Large genome-wide meta-analysis of clinically diagnosed late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) from 94,437 individuals identifies new LOAD risk loci and implicates Aβ formation, tau protein binding, immune response and lipid metabolism.

The epithalamus exhibits left-right asymmetries with different magnitudes among vertebrates. Here, the authors show that the catshark and two lampreys have conserved molecular asymmetries between the left and right developing epithalamus which are controlled by nodal signalling.

Actinium-225 is a promising isotope for α-therapy but progress in developing its chemistry is hindered by its high radioactivity and short supply. Here, the authors characterize actinium coordination in HCl solutions using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and molecular dynamics density functional theory.

The authors defined a roadmap for investigating the genetic covariance between structural or functional brain phenotypes and risk for psychiatric disorders. Their proof-of-concept study using the largest available common variant data sets for schizophrenia and volumes of several (mainly subcortical) brain structures did not find evidence of genetic overlap.

Manju Kurian and colleagues report heterozygous variants in KMT2B in 27 unrelated individuals with a complex progressive childhood-onset dystonia, often associated with a typical facial appearance. Their findings highlight a clinically recognizable form of dystonia and demonstrate a crucial role for KMT2B in the physiological control of voluntary movement.

A retrospective analysis using PCR testing, viral enrichment-based sequencing and agnostic metagenomic sequencing finds an association between adeno-associated virus type 2 and paediatric hepatitis of unknown cause.

Exploration of metastable phases of a given elemental composition is a data-intensive task. Here the authors integrate first-principles atomistic simulations with machine learning and high-performance computing to allow a rapid exploration of the metastable phases of carbon.

Earthquakes on oceanic transform faults are often preceded by foreshock swarms. A theoretical model suggests that circulating hydrothermal fluids, which compress as the fault rocks expand and deform, cause this precursor seismic activity.

This study finds that sST2 is a disease-causing factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Higher sST2 levels impair microglial Aβ clearance in APOE4⁺ female individuals. A genetic variant, rs1921622, is associated with a reduction in sST2 level and protects against AD in APOE4⁺ female individuals.

The interplay between amyloid and tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease is still not well understood. Here, the authors show that amyloid-related increased in soluble p-tau is related to subsequent accumulation of tau aggregates and cognitive decline in early stage of the disease.

A versatile cloud-accessible single-photon-based quantum computing machine is developed, which shows a six-photon sampling rate of 4 Hz over weeks. Heralded generation of a three-photon Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger state—a key milestone toward measurement-based quantum computing—is implemented.

Cortical excitatory neurons are narrowly tuned to sensory inputs, but the tuning of interneurons is perceived as broad and irregular. Duszkiewicz et al. demonstrate that interneuron tuning is structured and reflects the sum of local excitatory inputs.

The Kupffer cell lineage-determining factor ID3 selectively endows macrophages with the ability to phagocytose live tumour cells and orchestrate the recruitment, proliferation and activation of natural killer and CD8⁺ T lymphoid effector cells to restrict the growth of a variety of tumours.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide analyses identify new risk loci for age-related macular degeneration. Ancestry-specific analyses identify distinct effects at major risk loci, including smaller effect sizes for CFH risk alleles in haplotypes of African ancestry.

The authors present CAMPI, a large-scale multi-lab comparison of diverse metaproteomics workflows. CAMPI provides insights into the robustness of current methods, suggests further improvements to the field, and may pave the way for future community-driven metaproteomics projects.

Bismuth exhibits interesting structural and thermodynamic behavior at high pressure. Here, the structure of bismuth is investigated just above the melting line at 1–4 GPa, revealing a stable liquid structure.

It is known that invasive lung adenocarcinomas evolve from pre-cancerous dysplastic lesions. In this study, the authors show that evolution of pre-cancerous lesions is accompanied by DNA methylation alterations, and that global hypomethylation correlates with immune infiltration, mutational burden and copy number alterations.

In Alzheimer’s disease (AD) tau and neurodegeneration have complex regional relationships. Here, the authors show neuronal hypometabolism discordant with tau burden defines functional resilience or susceptibility to Alzheimer’s pathology via limbic/cortical axes. Susceptible groups have faster cognitive decline and evidence of non-Alzheimer’s pathologies.

Systematic characterization of longitudinal tau variability in human Alzheimer’s disease using an unbiased subtyping algorithm reveals four trajectories of tau deposition with distinct clinical features.

The KL-VS haplotype of the Klotho gene has been associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Here the authors show an association between the KL-VS haplotype and amyloid-dependent tau accumulation using PET data.

The tau protein is theorized to spread transneuronally in Alzheimers disease, though this theory remains unproven in humans. Our simulations of epidemic-like protein spreading across human brain networks support this theory, and suggest the spreading dynamics are modified by β-amyloid

Analyses of the relationships between temperature, moisture and seven key plant functional traits across the tundra and over time show that community height increased with warming across all sites, whereas other traits lagged behind predicted rates of change.

A genome-wide association study in ~3 million individuals identifies 3,952 independent variants associated with educational attainment. A polygenic index explains 12–16% of variance for this trait and contributes to risk prediction for ten diseases.

The scarcity and high radioactivity of the heaviest actinide elements, such as californium, make their study a formidable challenge. A landmark report describes the first structural characterization of a californium—carbon bond.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association analyses identify new risk loci for Parkinson’s disease, and fine-mapping and co-localization analyses implicate candidate genes whose expression is associated with disease susceptibility.

A spectroscopic thermal phase curve of GJ 1214b obtained with the JWST in the mid-infrared is reported and a planet with a high metallicity atmosphere blanketed by thick and reflective clouds or haze is found.

The BIN1 SNP rs744373 is associated with higher CSF tau and phosphorylated tau levels. Here the authors show, using PET imaging, that this SNP is associated with tau accumulation in the brain as well as impaired memory in older individuals without dementia.

A genome-wide association study for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) identifies 12 loci and implicates neurodevelopmental pathways and conserved regions of the genome as being involved in underlying ADHD biology.

Tau accumulation is associated with disease progression in Alzheimer’s disease. Here the authors use resting state fMRI and tau-PET to demonstrate that baseline connectivity in Alzheimer's disease is associated with tau spreading.

Lipid A from some bacteria is sensed differently by humans and mice for the activation of the inflammasomes and inflammatory responses, but the mechanisms are not clear. Here, the authors show that murine caspase-11 and human caspase-4/5 contribute to this differential response via their distinct recognition of under-acylated lipid A.

Christopher Newton-Cheh and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for blood pressure traits as part of the Global BPgen consortium. They report eight loci with replicated association to systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure, with each also showing association to hypertension.

Whether Alzheimer’s disease originates in basal forebrain or entorhinal cortex remains highly debated. Here the authors use structural magnetic resonance data from a longitudinal sample of participants stratified by cerebrospinal biomarker and clinical diagnosis to show that tissue volume changes appear earlier in the basal forebrain than in the entorhinal cortex.

Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is a complex multi-factorial disorder. Here, the authors perform a data-driven analysis of LOAD progression, including multimodal brain imaging, plasma and CSF biomarkers, and find vascular dysfunction is among the earliest and strongest altered events.

Brain-iron elevation is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the impact of the metal on disease outcomes has not been analysed in a longitudinal study. Here, the authors examine the association between the levels of ferritin, an iron storage protein, in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD patients and show that CSF ferritin levels predict AD outcomes.