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Evidence synthesized from 252 large-herbivore exclusion studies suggests that herbivore-induced change in dominance, independent of site productivity or precipitation, best predicts herbivore effects on biodiversity in grassland and savannah sites.

As Nature Aging celebrates its fifth anniversary, the journal asks some of the researchers who contributed to the journal early on to reflect on the past and the future of aging and age-related disease research, the impact of the field on human health now and in the future, and what challenges need to be addressed to ensure sustained progress.

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.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide and transcriptome-wide association studies of aortic stenosis identify more than 200 independent risk loci and provide insights into its genetic architecture.

The RNA methyltransferase activity of SPOUT1/CENP-32 is crucial for accurate mitotic spindle organization. Here, the authors describe a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by bi-allelic pathogenic SPOUT1 variants with reduced activity and compromised function in spindle organization.

A study reports the discovery of a parasitoid wasp species that uses the adult stage of Drosophila fruit flies as its host.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

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.

Measurements from the heavily shielded Orion spacecraft during the uncrewed Artemis I mission show dose-rate reductions due to shielding and orientation for Van Allen belt crossings and quantify the interplanetary cosmic-ray radiation in a human-rated spacecraft.

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.

Industry hopes to build on recent successes of monoclonal antibodies in oncology and inflammatory disease. But evidence is mounting that the exquisite selectivity and binding capacity of these therapeutics can have unwanted side effects, particularly in autoimmune disease. Christopher Thomas Scott investigates.

Massively parallel sequencing is a precise way to analyze copy-number variations given the right computational tools. An algorithm now facilitates the detection and fine mapping of copy-number gains and losses from millions of short sequence reads.

On the centenary of the first human EEG recording, more than 500 experts reflect on the impact that this discovery has had on our understanding of the brain and behaviour. We document their priorities and call for collective action focusing on validity, democratization and responsibility to realize the potential of EEG in science and society over the next 100 years.

A study of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in England between September 2020 and June 2021 finds that interventions capable of containing previous variants were insufficient to stop the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

Here, the authors present Paraphase, a HiFi-based informatics method that resolves highly similar genes located in segmental duplications. They apply Paraphase to 316 paralogous genes and summarize extensive genetic diversity across populations.

ChronoStrain accurately profiles low-abundance strains in longitudinal samples by jointly modelling nucleotide sequencing errors, strain presence/absence and the temporal information associated with each sample using a differentiable Bayesian model.

Stannous fluoride (SnF₂) is a common fluoride source and antimicrobial agent used in commercial toothpaste products. Here, the authors show how dynamic nuclear polarization can be used to perform ¹¹⁹Sn nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy experiments that probe the molecular structure of tin ions in commercial toothpastes.

Using well-calibrated statistical methods the authors jointly analyze Undiagnosed Diseases Network genomes, identifying known and novel disease genes. Software is publicly available to support future cross-cohort rare disease discovery efforts.

Sepsis induces a period of immunosuppression which can be problematic in the face of subsequent infectious challenge. Here the authors show the presence of PD-L1 expressing regulatory plasma cells that can inhibit T cells in a murine model and in patients with sepsis.

Rocks and dust from the asteroid Bennu contain some of the molecular building blocks of life on Earth, such as amino acids and nucleobases. They also carry ammonia that formed billions of years ago in cold, distant regions of our Solar System.

The measurement of the total cross-section of proton–proton collisions is of fundamental importance for particle physics. Here, the first measurement of the inelastic cross-section is presented for proton–proton collisions at an energy of 7 teraelectronvolts using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

Prostate cancer is a common cause of male cancer-related deaths. Complete sequencing of prostate cancer genomes now reveals previously unknown balanced rearrangements. Single-nucleotide resolution afforded by sequencing indicates that complex rearrangements may arise from transcriptional or chromatin aberrancies and engage prostate tumorigenic mechanisms.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis of individuals with clinically assessed or self-reported depression identifies 44 independent risk loci. Comparisons with other psychiatric disorders and candidate gene analyses provide new insights into major depressive disorder.

A technique for the de novo design of switchable protein systems controlled by induced conformational change is demonstrated for three functional motifs, in vitro and in yeast and mammalian cells.

The NLRC4 inflammasome, vital for immune defense, responds to infections and inflammation. Here the authors reveal the role of Bacillus thailandensis type III secretion system needle protein in activating NLRC4 complex through structural insights.

The GREGoR consortium provides foundational resources and substrates for the future of rare disease genomics.

Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia is classified as proliferative (pCMML) or dysplastic based on the white blood cell counts but biological differences are unclear. Here, the authors show genetic, transcriptomic and epigenomic differences between these two subtypes establishing that pCMML is RAS-pathway driven and that inhibiting RAS-driven PLK1 expression is a viable therapeutic target.

The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network reports an integrative analysis of more than 400 samples of clear cell renal cell carcinoma based on genomic, DNA methylation, RNA and proteomic characterisation; frequent mutations were identified in the PI(3)K/AKT pathway, suggesting this pathway might be a potential therapeutic target, among the findings is also a demonstration of metabolic remodelling which correlates with tumour stage and severity.

With a comprehensive analysis of sequencing data, DNA copy number, gene expression and DNA methylation in a large number of human glioblastomas, The Cancer Genome Atlas project initiative provides a broad overview of the genes and pathways that are altered in this cancer type.

The most up-to-date combination of results on the properties of the Higgs boson is reported, which indicate that its properties are consistent with the standard model predictions, within the precision achieved to date.