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Stapled α-helical peptides are promising for targeting challenging targets such as transcription factors, but achieving sufficient cell permeability while avoiding off-target cleavage is difficult. Here, the authors present workflows for identifying stapled peptides against Mdm2(X) with in vivo activity and no off-target effects based on comprehensive investigations of their properties.

DNA origami enables precise nanoscale self-assembly. Authors here show how programmable control of interactions and binding angles yields curved surfaces of diverse geometries, broadening the design space for synthetic nanostructures.

Little millet is an orphan crop offering a promising yet underutilized option in the pursuit of food and nutritional security. Here, the authors report its genome assembly, and elucidate its recent tetraploid structure, sub-genome dominance, and the genetic basis for micronutrient content.

The design and optimisation of 3D DNA-origami can be a barrier to rapid application. Here the authors design barrel structure of stacked 2D double helical rings with complex surface patterns.

Using a food systems approach, the authors show that scientifically guided insect biological control mitigated 43 pest targets between 1918 and 2018 in the Asia–Pacific region, allowing for yield-loss recoveries of up to 73–100% in non-rice critical crops, with strong impacts on rural economies.

Anatomical segmentation of high-resolution 3D microscopy datasets is necessary to map large samples at cellular resolution. Here the authors present a pipeline for automated mouse atlas propagation (aMAP) to segment fluorescence images of the adult mouse brain and validate it against human segmentations.

Programmable self-assembly can help construct complex nanostructures. Now a mathematical framework can identify if and how a particular structure can be assembled.

A robust, versatile, one-pot bottom-up nanotechnology fabrication method uses a few-hundred short DNA strands to 'staple' a very long strand into two-dimensional structures of 100 nm in diameter and resembling any desired shape, such as squares, 'nanofaces' and stars.

Multiple specific binding interactions have typically been created from DNA using Watson–Crick complementarity. Now, diverse bonds have also been obtained through the geometric arrangement of blunt-end stacking interactions. Two approaches to specific interactions — binary and shape coding — are demonstrated. The thermodynamics and binding rules of the resulting ‘stacking bonds’ are explored.

Zierer et al. engineered cassava to express a modified potassium channel that enhances sugar flow, improving the yield and drought resilience. This strategy offers a route to increase cassava productivity in tropical regions.

Use of wood and crop residue for cooking and heating in rural China is a significant source of carbon emissions and air pollution. Using a survey of more than 34,000 households, researchers show that between 1992 and 2012 usage of these fuels decreased by much more than previous estimates, due primarily to rising incomes.

Amyloid fibrils can be grown inside DNA origami nanotubes and then arranged on a DNA surface.

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.

Geospatial variation in the micronutrient composition (calcium, iron, selenium and zinc) of staple cereal grains is nutritionally important at subnational scales in Ethiopia and Malawi; these data could be used to improve surveillance of micronutrient deficiencies in the region.

Federated learning (FL) algorithms have emerged as a promising solution to train models for healthcare imaging across institutions while preserving privacy. Here, the authors describe the Federated Tumor Segmentation (FeTS) challenge for the decentralised benchmarking of FL algorithms and evaluation of Healthcare AI algorithm generalizability in real-world cancer imaging datasets.

Precision design of DNA origami needs precision validation. Here, the authors developed cryo-EM methods for obtaining high resolution structural data and for constructing pseudo-atomic models in a semi-automated fashion, allowing for iterative nanodevice inspection and refinement.

DNA origami nanostructures with different shapes can accumulate preferentially in the kidney, with some being renal-protective, as shown in healthy mice and in a mouse model of acute kidney injury.

By integrating a ribo-seq dataset of 195 individuals with RNA-seq and proteomics data from the same cohort, researchers found prevalent post-transcriptional attenuation of eQTL effects and identified omic-specific QTLs associated with schizophrenia.

The incorporation of large numbers of chemically diverse functional components into microfabricated structures at precise locations is challenging; now the precision placement of DNA origami by directed self-assembly is shown to overcome this problem for the purpose of reliably and controllably coupling molecular emitters to photonic crystal cavities.

The Healthy Diet Basket (HDB) is used for the measurement of Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet globally. This analysis compares the economic, nutritional and environmental characteristics of least-cost diets following the HDB with national food-based dietary guidelines and the EAT-Lancet diet, demonstrating the use of the HDB as a global standard of healthy and sustainable diets.

Making use of phylogenomic and transcriptome analysis of 20 plant species, including 14 gymnosperms, Sondervan et al. uncover candidate ovule genes and find that orthologs with differential tissue expression patterns across species most influence major evolutionary splits of seed plants.

In this work, researchers engineer HIV-1 immunogens using molecular dynamics simulations to enhance vaccine designs that select for specific antibody mutations. Their approach improved the selection of mutations crucial for broadly neutralizing antibody responses, offering a promising strategy for HIV vaccine development.

Interactions between the endoplasmic reticulum membrane protein complex (EMC) and the high-voltage-activated calcium channel Ca_Vα₂δ are mutually exclusive, and EMC-to-Ca_Vα₂δ hand-off involves a divalent ion-dependent step and Ca_V1.2 element ordering.

Orthogonal ribosomes are engineered in which the two subunits are stapled together in a way that limits association with endogenous subunits in cells, enabling the evolution of new functionality in the orthogonal ribosome.

Microbiota composition fluctuates in response to changes in environmental and lifestyle factors. Here, Hicks et al. show that the faecal microbiota of wild gorillas and chimpanzees is temporally dynamic, with shifts that correlate with seasonal rainfall patterns and periods of high and low frugivory.

A subset of pediatric gliomas harbour alterations in fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)-family proteins. Here, the authors characterise the genomic landscape of 11,635 gliomas across ages and use isogenic model systems to explore the underlying biology of FGFR1-altered gliomas and potential therapeutic vulnerabilities.

Nitrogen application rates for wheat production in China are ~2.5 times greater than those in the USA. Nitrogen benchmarks can guide smallholder farmers and policymakers towards improved nitrogen use efficiency.

Here, the authors characterize the tempo and mode of lemur speciation with a phylogenomic dataset that also includes lorisiforms. They find that lemurs exhibited multiple bursts of diversification (without subsequent decline in diversification rate) with the highest diversification rates accompanied by high introgression rates.

A piezoelectric fibre woven into a machine-washable fabric converts tenuous sound pressure into electric signals and is used to listen to cardiac sound, determine the source direction of a sound, and record and play back audio.

In this study, the authors describe an imaging technology, ¹⁸F-FDS PET, for noninvasive detection, localization and monitoring of invasive mold infections, including Aspergillus, non-Aspergillus and azole-resistant molds, throughout the body.

Ancient proteins in human dental calculus from sites across Mongolia spanning 5,000 years suggest dairy consumption on the eastern Eurasian steppe by circa 3000 bc, and the later emergence of horse milking at circa 1200 bc, concurrent with the first evidence for horse riding.

Cryo-electron tomography requires thin samples. Few cell-thinning techniques have been standardized. Here, the authors provide and validate a method to prepare, label, and image proteins at mammalian cell plasma membranes for sub-nanometer structural analysis.

It is known that the T cell co-receptor CD4 greatly enhances the capacity of T cell receptor (TCR) signalling, triggered by the peptide-bound MHC molecule. Here authors show that the mechanistic basis for the enhancement is the co-operative binding of TCR and CD4 to the MHC-peptide complex.