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Genetic models for psychiatric disorders often overlook ancestry diversity. Here, the authors use PsychENCODE and GWAS data to build ancestry-specific GReX models, improving TWAS and revealing novel genes and pathways linked to brain development and psychiatric risk.

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).

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.

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.

Translational neurodegeneration needs characterisation of the downstream consequences of synaptic loss. A multimodal imaging approach reveals that synaptic loss affects clinical severity via reduced connectivity in frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

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.

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.

Experimental measurements of high-order out-of-time-order correlators on a superconducting quantum processor show that these correlators remain highly sensitive to the quantum many-body dynamics in quantum computers at long timescales.

A genome-wide association study including over 76,000 individuals with schizophrenia and over 243,000 control individuals identifies common variant associations at 287 genomic loci, and further fine-mapping analyses highlight the importance of genes involved in synaptic processes.

In an updated report on 70 laboratory-confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5N1 cases in the USA between March 2024 and May 2025, the absence of human-to-human transmission to date was confirmed, with no known mutations of resistance to neuroaminidase inhibitors.

A multi-ancestry genome-wide association study for age at menarche followed by fine mapping and downstream analysis implicates 665 pubertal timing genes, such as the G-protein-coupled receptor 83 (GPR83) and other genes expressed in the ovaries involved in the DNA damage response.

High levels of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase encoding genes were detected in bacterial isolates causing neonatal sepsis in LMICs. Authors assess the in vitro activity of three antibiotics (fosfomycin, flomoxef and amikacin) in combination against ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli isolates.

Blue-light cystoscopy is a method of photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) used in the bladder which offers an opportunity to improve the quality of the endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer by enhancing the color contrast between tumor and non-tumor tissue. Introduced in Germany¹ nearly 20 years ago, a substantial body of evidence, including a recent paper by Geavlete et al.,² suggests that PDD markedly improves the completeness of the initial resection in transurethral endoscopic surgery.

Openshaw and colleagues find myeloid inflammation and complement activation signatures in patients with long COVID who were previously hospitalized.

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.

Genome-wide association analyses of 41,917 bipolar disorder cases and 371,549 controls of European ancestry provide new insights into the etiology of this disorder and identify novel therapeutic leads and potential opportunities for drug repurposing.

In a post-hoc analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) features from patients with metastatic prostate cancer treated with [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu–PSMA-617 or cabazitaxel in the randomized phase 2 TheraP trial, low ctDNA levels at baseline were predictive of clinical benefit from [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu–PSMA-617, and PTEN or ATM alterations were identified as potential biomarkers of response.

Genetic and testing data from England show that the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern B.1.1.7 has a transmission advantage over other lineages.

Post-international travel quarantine has been widely implemented to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but the impacts of such policies are unclear. Here, the authors used linked genomic and contact tracing data to assess the impacts of a 14-day quarantine on return to England in summer 2020.

In this study, Aggarwal and colleagues perform prospective sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolates derived from asymptomatic student screening and symptomatic testing of students and staff at the University of Cambridge. They identify important factors that contributed to within university transmission and onward spread into the wider community.

Analysing >1,700 inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network, the authors show that the majority of Amazon tree species can occupy floodplains and that patterns of species turnover are closely linked to regional flood patterns.

A study of 21,879 families with rare genetic diseases identifies 12 with 2- to 7-fold excess of germline mutations, most of which are due to DNA repair defects or exposure to mutagenic chemotherapy, although most individuals with a hypermutated genome will not have a genetic disease.

The Omicron variant evades vaccine-induced neutralization but also fails to form syncytia, shows reduced replication in human lung cells and preferentially uses a TMPRSS2-independent cell entry pathway, which may contribute to enhanced replication in cells of the upper airway. Altered fusion and cell entry characteristics are linked to distinct regions of the Omicron spike protein.

Pregnant women have been disproportionately under-vaccinated against COVID-19, partly because they were excluded from initial trials. This systematic review and meta-analysis supports efficacy of vaccination in pregnancy, and finds no evidence of adverse maternal or perinatal outcomes.

Whole-exome sequencing identifies ten risk genes for schizophrenia implicated by rare protein-coding variants, a subset of which overlap with risk genes in other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Combination therapy with the anti-HIV-1 monoclonal antibodies 3BNC117 and 10-1074 maintains long-term suppression in the absence of antiretroviral therapy in individuals with antibody-sensitive viral reservoirs.

Douglas Easton and colleagues report a comprehensive analysis of SNP associations to prostate cancer across the 8q24 region. They report 8 SNPs in 5 blocks independently associated to prostate cancer risk.

A genome-wide association study of critically ill patients with COVID-19 identifies genetic signals that relate to important host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage that may be targeted by repurposing drug treatments.

Relatives of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis have an unexpectedly high incidence of schizophrenia. Here, the authors show a genetic link between the two conditions, suggesting shared neurobiological mechanisms.

The PSA (KLK3) genetic variant rs17632542 is associated with reduced prostate cancer risk and lower serum PSA levels, although the underlying reasons are unclear. Here, the authors show that this PSA variant reduced proteolytic activity and leads to smaller tumours, but also increases invasion and bone metastasis, indicating its dual risk association depending on tumour context; the variant is associated with both lower risk and poor clinical outcomes.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies across different populations highlights new risk loci and provides a genetic risk score that can stratify prostate cancer risk across ancestries.

Decomposing neural information into synergistic and redundant components, Luppi et al. show how core brain regions support higher cognition in virtue of their synergy, revealing that human brains leverage synergistic information more than macaques.

Turajlic and colleagues assess longitudinal antibody and cellular immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in patients with cancer, following either recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination, in two back-to-back reports from the CAPTURE study.

The spatial and physical nature of tumour growth remains unclear. Combining whole-tumour images from clear cell renal cell carcinoma with genomic data, the authors show more aggressive subclonal growth and metastasizing subclones in the tumour centre.

A combined modelling and tumour analysis approach is used to study the temporal and spatial patterns of subclone evolution in the TRACERx renal study. Studying the tumour shape and spatial features of clonal diversity in early-stage tumours may allow the prediction of tumour progression and patterns of subclone diversification over time.

Two below-threshold surface code memories on superconducting processors markedly reduce logical error rates, achieving high efficiency and real-time decoding, indicating potential for practical large-scale fault-tolerant quantum algorithms.

Endothelial cells at the inner surface of blood vessels are exposed to mechanical forces as a result of blood flow. Here the authors show that the interaction of extracellular matrix proteins with adhesion molecules on the endothelial cell surface determines cellular stiffness and sensitivity to mechanical forces.

Papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) is a subtype of kidney cancer characterized by highly variable clinical behaviour. Here the authors sequence either the genomes or exomes of 31 pRCCs and identify several genes in sub-clones and large copy number variants in major clones that may be important drivers of pRCC.

Prostate cancer (PrCa) involves a large heritable genetic component. Here, the authors perform multivariate fine-mapping of known PrCa GWAS loci, identifying variants enriched for biological function, explaining more familial relative risk, and with potential application in clinical risk profiling.