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Virus-host competition drives evolution of diverse antiviral defences in bacteria and antidefense systems in their viruses (phages). Here, Silas et al. use a functional screen of phage accessory genes to show how bacterial cell-surface sugars can be major determinants of phage host-range, and how some phage proteins injected into bacterial cells inhibit host immunity.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

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.

The approval of first line immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has improved outcomes for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC), however, whether patients would benefit more from ICB alone or alongside chemotherapy is unclear. Here, the authors develop a machine-learning based approach to help guide individual treatment selection patients with mNSCLC.

Leveraging RNA-targeting dCas13d enables selective interference with phage protein translation and facilitates measurement of phage gene fitness at a transcriptome-wide scale.

An Oryza-specific histone H4 variant (H4.V) forms condensed, less stable nucleosomes. H4.V enhances the salt-stress-dependent deposition of H4 lysine 5 acetylation marks at several protein-coding loci, thereby regulating the salt stress transcriptome.

Hosseinzadeh et al. demonstrate use of a publicly accessible automated machine learning platform to differentiate between a common benign tumor and malignant transformation of it within the paranasal sinuses. This AI algorithm beat prior human prediction, and showed that physicians with no coding background can effectively utilize this tool.

DNA origami is a versatile fabrication approach for building tailored nanostructures. Thacker et al.apply it to the assembly of gold nanoparticle dimers with sub-5 nm gaps and show how the resulting plasmonic resonances can be exploited for surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

Systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease study reported that, despite global improvements from 1990 to 2021, dietary iron deficiency-associated disease burden remains high in women, children and residents in low socio-demographic index countries.

To address an evidence gap for the efficacy of hypertension therapy using dual drug combinations in patients of South Asian origin, a randomized clinical trial conducted in India found that three types of dual drug combinations, each administered in a single pill, had similarly large effects on reducing blood pressure.

Kalluri and colleagues use mammary carcinoma models to study the causes of metastatic organotropism and find an organ-specific role for angiopoietin 2 in driving lung metastasis through the suppression of the tight junction protein Claudin 5.

Integration of multiomics data with functional analysis of pancreatic tissues from individuals with early-stage type 2 diabetes indicates that the genetic risk converges on RFX6, which regulates chromatin architecture at multiple risk loci.

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.

In this work, the authors report the use of a computationally and rationally designed self-assembling peptide that has robust antiviral capability with demonstrated specificity in binding to SARS-CoV-2 and inhibition of viral entry into human cells.

As part of the first anniversary issue of Nature Chemical Engineering, we present a collection of opinions from 40 researchers within the field on what they think are the most exciting opportunities that lie ahead for their respective topics.

Analyzing readouts of inflammaging across four cohorts, Franck and colleagues identify strong variation and observe that inflammaging, in its known form, primarily emerges in industrialized—but not nonindustrialized—populations.

The cGAS–STING signalling pathway is a critical driver of chronic inflammation and functional decline during ageing, and could be targeted to halt neurodegenerative processes during old age.

An analysis involving the shotgun sequencing of more than 300 ancient genomes from Eurasia reveals a deep east–west genetic divide from the Black Sea to the Baltic, and provides insight into the distinct effects of the Neolithic transition on either side of this boundary.

Using a well-resolved spatial transcriptomics coupled with genetic data, this study identified rice CLSY3 chromatin remodeler as an upstream player in endosperm development. OsCLSY3 is imprinted and endosperm-specific, and, curiously, its expression is controlled by RdDM.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the preeminent drug delivery vehicle for mRNA therapies, partially due to the ionizable lipid (IL) components that facilitate endosomal escape. Here, authors devise terminally branched ILs that enhance endosome escape, resulting in increased liver and T cell delivery.

Using highly purified protein factors, we provide evidence that BRCA1–BARD1 physically interacts with EXO1, BLM and WRN and upregulates the activity of all three resection pathways.

The cGAS–STING pathway has a central role in the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19 by driving the increase in type I interferons that occurs in the later stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Fine-scale geospatial mapping of overweight and wasting (two components of the double burden of malnutrition) in 105 LMICs shows that overweight has increased from 5.2% in 2000 to 6.0% in children under 5 in 2017. Although overall wasting decreased over the same period, most countries are not on track to meet the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025.

In vivo lensless imaging can be achieved via a phase mask that creates diffraction patterns with high-contrast contours, as shown for the imaging of calcium dynamics in the cortex of mice and of microvasculature in the oral mucosa of volunteers.

The authors present a multidisciplinary approach investigating the mechanistic underpinnings of galactan synthase 1 and use their data to propose a new model for complex pectin biosynthesis.

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 situ measurements of the elemental abundances in the lunar southern high-latitude regions show that the local terrain is fairly uniform and mostly composed of ferroan anorthosite, a product of lunar magma ocean crystallization.

A genome-wide association study in large cohorts of patients with different types of cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors identifies genetic variants associated with immune-related adverse events.

Genomic and transcriptomic analysis of 393 non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors identifies molecular features associated with response.

The features of astrocytes surrounding CNS lesions are unclear. Here the authors show that after spinal cord injury or stroke in mice, mature astrocytes dedifferentiate, proliferate and are reprogrammed to adopt features of wound repair cells and form borders, re-establishing CNS integrity.

Most non-line-of-sight imaging requires scanned illumination, limiting applicability for dynamic scenes. Here the authors exploit occlusion and a sensor array to estimate locations and sizes of moving foreground objects and a static background map.

Diffuse optical flowmetry is widely used to assess blood flow dynamics, but has remained difficult to interpret. Here, the authors use interferometric near-infrared spectroscopy, revealing additional information about optical phase and time-of-flight, and observe the Brownian nature of blood flow dynamics in humans.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassemia (BT) are globally prevalent inherited blood disorders but, despite extensive research, no ex vivo system exists for SCD and BT. Here, the authors generate pathophysiologically relevant erythroid progenitor models of SCD and BT.

Evolutionarily conserved gene modules mediate neurodegenerative dementia in a variety of mouse models and in postmortem brain tissue from patients.

Here, Tan et al. find that the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 in mink and deer required minimal adaptation, has only caused moderate changes to the evolutionary trajectory of the virus, and has not led to viral mutations that greatly improve human transmission thus far.

Real-world data (RWD) based control arms provide an option to compare the effectiveness of single-arm trials. By performing multiple quantitative bias analyses to alleviate concerns about trial-RWD comparability, here the authors show that the RET inhibitor pralsetinib provides survival benefit in patients with RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer from the ARROW single-arm trial, (NCT03037385) when compared to pembrolizumab monotherapy and pembrolizumab with chemotherapy RWD cohorts.

CAR T cells targeting PSMA and engineered to be resistant to immunosuppressive TGFβ signaling exhibit dose-dependent toxicity and expansion following infusion, with some transient antitumor activity, in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

Human MEF2C haploinsufficiency results in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but it is unclear if the same is true in mice. Here, the authors show that Mef2c ^+/− mice have behavioral defects and neuronal abnormalities similar to ASD, and symptoms can be ameliorated with the new drug, NitroSynapsin.

Atrial fibrillation is associated with an increased risk of thromboembolic events and vascular dementia in patients with no previous history of stroke or any conventional risk factors, compared to patients without atrial fibrillation.

Non-line-of-sight imaging is typically limited by loss of directional information due to diffuse reflections scattering light in all directions. Here, the authors see around corners by using vertical edges and temporal response to pulsed light to obtain angular and longitudinal resolution, respectively.

The use of metallic lithium electrodes in batteries would lead to dendritic growth problems. Here, Mukherjee et al.use porous graphene electrodes to entrap lithium metal at defect sites, achieving much improved specific capacities over extended cycling.

In vivo imaging scientists broadcast from inside the brains of moving animals.

Gestational duration depends on both maternal and fetal genetic influences. Here, the authors perform a fetal genome-wide association meta-analysis and find that a locus on 2q13 is associated with pregnancy duration and further show that the lead SNP rs7594852 changes the binding properties of transcriptional repressor HIC1.

High-resolution pulse shaping is highly sought after, but existing systems are impractical outside of laboratory settings. Here, the authors introduce a chip-scale spectral shaper that uses high-Q microresonator filter banks and inline phase control to manipulate lines at GHz-level spacing.