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The study reports the discovery of a persistent bow shock around a diskless magnetic accreting white dwarf, revealing a powerful energy-loss mechanism that challenges current models of accretion and compact binary evolution.

Women of reproductive age may have specific concerns relating to perceived impacts on fertility and menstrual cycles that make them hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccination. In this study, the authors explore COVID-19 vaccine uptake rates in women of reproductive age using linked data for ~13 million women in England.

Authors study links between amyloid secondary nucleation and growth defects, demonstrating these sites on Aβ40/Aβ42 fibrils are rare compared to the number of protein molecules. Re-analysis of published data suggests that defects may also drive secondary nucleation generally.

The APOE-ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not deterministic. Here, the authors show that common genetic variation changes how APOE-ε4 influences cognition.

Vocal fold cancer tumours lose some of their malignant traits when mechanically stimulated by physiological stretch or vibrations, mimicking the opening and closing of vocal folds and phonation.

Maurice et al. examine how cytokines regulate antigen-independent activation of memory CD8⁺ T cells. They show that IL-4 signaling changes the quality of the bystander T cell response by antagonizing IL-18 sensing and subsequent IFNγ production, but increasing granzyme B expression without changing perforin, thereby limiting bystander-mediated protection.

Using two newly developed immunoassays tested in three clinical cohorts, this study highlights CSF DOPA decarboxylase as a promising biomarker for differentiating dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease from Alzheimer’s disease and controls.

The authors present a genetically encoded tool based on a bifunctional enzyme that can regenerate NAD⁺ while executing an engineered glycerol shunt. The tool successfully restored redox imbalance and modulated lipid metabolism in vitro and in a mouse hepatic steatosis model.

The authors show that plasma AT(N) biomarkers can distinguish Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration in diverse Latin American populations. Using machine learning and integrating neuroimaging, significant diagnostic accuracy was achieved, enhancing clinical assessments of these conditions in Latin America.

A modular, point-of-care device combining hemispheric plasmonic nanoarrays and automated microfluidics enables nucleic acid amplification and metabolic cell viability assay for rapid bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing.

The distinct architecture of the Escherichia coli membrane transporter LetA mediates lipid trafficking across the bacterial envelope in partnership with the tunnel-like complex LetB.

CELSR1 is a core component of the tissue/planar cell polarity pathway. Here, the authors report a CELSR1-related disorder featuring brain malformations, neurodevelopmental delay and epilepsy, and use mice to explore the pathophysiological mechanisms.

Bessler et al. developed a human organoid model for H3.3K27M-altered diffuse midline glioma that recapitulates key tumor features and demonstrated its utility for modeling CAR T cell and microglia functions.

Via high-throughput imaging and tracking over 140 million single mycobacteria, the authors show that drug- and strain-specific killing predict treatment outcomes, with potential to improve drug development and personalized therapy.

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.

Here, the authors find that a benign polygenic predisposition to lower white blood cell counts is associated with multiple clinical endpoints, suggesting that predisposed individuals are susceptible to escalations or alterations in clinical care that may be harmful or of little benefit.

The type I interferon response is suppressed during early development, making embryos susceptible to pathogens. Here, the authors show that this suppression contributes to normal development by preventing an aberrant immune response against endogenous double stranded RNAs.

This study identifies protein signatures of pediatric obesity linked to cardiometabolic risk, shows treatment-related changes, and highlights a three-protein panel predictive of steatotic liver disease for early diagnosis

White matter (WM) astrocytes differ significantly from gray matter astrocytes, with WM astrocytes in the forebrain exhibiting unique proliferation capacity, which is absent in cerebellar WM, suggesting region-specific astrocyte generation.

Somatic mutations in blood cells (CHIP) are linked to diseases like heart disease, but the mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors show that different CHIP driver genes alter unique sets of plasma proteins, some of which are validated in mouse models.

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).

Xie and colleagues show that MRI-based brain function maps can identify patient-specific abnormalities in temporal lobe epilepsy, track how they spread along brain networks, and help diagnose, lateralize seizure focus, and predict surgical outcomes.

This study investigates the impact of parity on aging in the mammary gland. The authors find that aging leads to the accumulation of abnormal IL33+ hybrid epithelial cells in nulliparous mice, whereas parity significantly restricts this population.

Reported detections of gases in exoplanet atmospheres, including claims of biosignatures on K2-18 b, disappear when broader models are tested, revealing that such detections often reflect modelling limits rather than real signals.

A giant planet candidate roughly the size of Jupiter but more than 14 times as massive is observed by TESS and other instruments to be transiting the white dwarf star WD 1856+534.

The mechanisms underlying cell fate decisions often remain unclear. Here, the authors develop a 3D vertex-based model of complex fate choices in skin epidermis and propose a theoretical framework to link mechanical forces, quantitative cellular morphologies and cellular fate outcomes.

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.

Glioma stem cells (GSCs) retain the ability to partially differentiate, but it is unclear how the brain microenvironment may influence this response. Here the authors show that glioblastoma cells infiltrating into the white matter acquire pre-oligodendrocyte-like fate in a process that mimics myelin repair and results in tumour suppression

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

The glia limitans is formed by astrocytes at CNS borders and acts as a barrier to molecules and immune cells. Here, using an Aqp4-mRuby3 knock-in mouse, the authors visualize this barrier and its role in CNS immune surveillance and neuroinflammation.

This Perspective considers the addition of ACKR1 genetic testing for identifying ACKR1/DARC-associated neutropenia in patients receiving clozapine, recommending eligibility criteria and testing strategies while estimating substantial cost savings for the UK healthcare system and enhancing equitable treatment access.

Regrowth of lost enamel in tooth decay and sensitivity is a major obstacle to overcome. Here, the authors report on a protein-based material that mimics features of natural enamel formation, allowing for epitaxial growth of apatite nanocrystals to restore enamel structure and function.

Endometriosis, a chronic inflammatory condition with limited treatments, affects millions globally. Here, the authors develop ionic liquid-coated gold core polymeric nanoparticles (Au-PLGA-IL NPs) for selectively targeted neutrophil co-localization, integrating the plasmonic properties of AuNPs with PLGA’s biocompatibility, further enhanced by ionic liquids, demonstrating significant apoptosis in endometrial cells via photothermal therapy.

AQP3 facilitates the transport of hydrogen peroxide. Here the authors report cryo-EM structures of AQP3 under different pH and in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Along with molecular dynamics simulations, the study reveals how AQP3 maintains redox balance in endocrine pancreas.

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.

The variability in clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection is partly due to deficiencies in production or response to type I interferons (IFN). Here, the authors describe a FIP200-dependent lysosomal degradation pathway, independent of canonical autophagy and type I IFN, that restricts SARS-CoV-2 replication, offering insights into critical COVID-19 pneumonia mechanisms.

Incomplete plumbing affects over a million people in the USA. Analysis of individual and household data for the 2015–2019 period from the US–Mexico border reveals the unequal nature of plumbing poverty in the borderlands and provides insight for future planning.

White Americans’ mental representations of those who have never had an abortion, those who had an abortion for medical reasons and those who had an abortion for non-medical reasons differ in the degree to which they resemble the stereotypes of White Americans, wealth, and femininity.

High-affinity ligands were developed that specifically bind aggregated TDP-43, are selective over common co-pathologies, and possess pharmacokinetic profiles suitable for PET imaging to visualize TDP-43 pathology in the brains of patients.

A combination of high-resolution spatial imaging, spatial proteomics and transcriptional data reveals sparse and heterogeneous bacterial signals in gliomas and brain metastases.

Spinal cord organoids from SMA patients reveal widespread neurodevelopmental defects. Single-cell and functional analyses show global dysregulation, which can be rescued by SMN-increasing therapy, stressing the importance of timely intervention.

An inherently explainable AI trained on 1,015 expert-annotated prostate tissue images achieved strong Gleason pattern segmentation while providing interpretable outputs and addressing interobserver variability in pathology.

Picks include a quantum pioneer, a co-discoverer of Ebola and a bioethicist-turned-activist.

This study investigates the developmental transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial quality control. Authors identify the Drosophila factor Mirana, homologous to mammalian TZAP, as a key temporal regulator of mitochondrial morphology and function, critical for activity-dependent synaptic connectivity.

Combined hormonal therapy and CDK4/6 inhibition face resistance challenges in endometrial cancer. Here, the authors present a phase 2, one-arm clinical trial, where metformin is combined with letrozole (hormonal therapy) and abemaciclib (a CDK4/6 inhibitor) reporting safety and efficacy in patients with endometrial cancer.