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A consensus cell type atlas for the fly brain provides both an intellectual framework and open-source toolchains for brain-scale comparative connectomics.

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.

In a quantum simulation of a (2+1)D lattice gauge theory using a superconducting quantum processor, the dynamics of strings reveal the transition from deconfined to confined excitations as the effective electric field is increased.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Understanding the role of coherent structures in the dynamics of turbulent flows is of high relevance for fluid dynamics, climate systems, and aerodynamics. The authors propose a deep learning approach to evaluate the importance of various types of coherent structure in the flow, to uncover main mechanisms of wall-bounded turbulence and develop techniques for its control.

FlyWire presents a neuronal wiring diagram of the whole fly brain with annotations for cell types, classes, nerves, hemilineages and predicted neurotransmitters, with data products and an open ecosystem to facilitate exploration and browsing.

Large genome-wide meta-analysis of clinically diagnosed late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) from 94,437 individuals identifies new LOAD risk loci and implicates Aβ formation, tau protein binding, immune response and lipid metabolism.

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.

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.

Across 24 countries, Hoogeveen et al. found that gobbledegook coming from a scientist was considered more credible than when coming from a spiritual guru. This ‘Einstein effect’ was less pronounced for religious individuals.

Probing fundamental quantum systems and their phase change is interesting. Here the authors demonstrate the existence of mobile quantum solid phase composed of dimerized ³He atoms and topology-induced vacancies using ³He adsorbed on carbon nanotube.

This study uses epi-retro-seq to link single-cell epigenomes and cell types to long-distance projections for neurons dissected from different regions projecting to different targets across the whole mouse brain.

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.

Cognitive function is associated with health and important life outcomes. Here, the authors perform a genome-wide association study for general cognitive function in 300,486 individuals and identify genetic loci that implicate neural and cell developmental pathways in this trait.

Mutations in the NRF2-KEAP1 pathway is found to be related with therapeutic resistance and poor outcomes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here this group reports that cystine/glutamate antiporter system xc−, controlled by NRF2, can be non-invasively imaged by positron emission tomography thereby providing a sensitive and specific marker of NRF2 activation in advanced preclinical models of NSCLC.

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.

Conditional deletion of the transcriptional co-activator Brd4 in infiltrating Cx3cr1⁺ mouse macrophages ameliorates heart failure and substantially reduces fibroblast activation.

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

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.

Understanding T cell behaviour in cancers is vital for improving immunotherapies. Here, the authors present spatially resolved T cell receptor sequencing (SPTCR-seq), a technology that annotates T cell receptors within the tumour ecosystem.

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.

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.

Neuropeptide Y signalling in the periphery contributes to the regulation of metabolic and energy homeostasis. Here the authors show that blocking Y1R signalling in peripheral tissues using the selective antagonist BIBO3304 ameliorates diet-induced obesity and improves whole-body glucose metabolism.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, Pattaro et al. conduct a meta-analysis to discover several new loci associated with variation in eGFR and find that genes associated with eGFR loci often encode proteins potentially related to kidney development.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association analyses identify new risk loci for Parkinson’s disease, and fine-mapping and co-localization analyses implicate candidate genes whose expression is associated with disease susceptibility.

Avoiding catastrophic climate change requires that we avoid losing key natural carbon reserves. This study maps such irrecoverable carbon globally and finds a third of the remaining managed by Indigenous peoples and local communities and nearly a quarter in protected areas.

COVID-19 can be associated with neurological complications. Here the authors show that markers of brain injury, but not immune markers, are elevated in the blood of patients with COVID-19 both early and months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in those with brain dysfunction or neurological diagnoses.

The integration of scalable and modular hardware and software for the remote operation of programmable miniaturized wireless networks allows for the study of the behaviour of large groups of rodents.

Current physical neuromorphic computing faces critical challenges of how to reconfigure key physical dynamics of a system to adapt computational performance to match a diverse range of tasks. Here the authors present a task-adaptive approach to physical neuromorphic computing based on on-demand control of computing performance using various magnetic phases of chiral magnets.

Amphihelical antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are bactericidal host defense factors, but their function as immunomodulators is emerging. Here the authors show that several AMPs organize DNA into periodic nanocrystals by self-assembling into superhelical protofibril scaffolds, which potentiates DNA sensing by TLR9.

The heterogeneity of androgen receptor (AR) gene alterations across metastases in prostate cancer remains unresolved. Here, the authors characterise AR genomic complexity across spatially separated lethal metastases from 10 prostate cancer patients and investigate how AR alterations evolve.

Most of the archaeological record of the Middle to Later Stone Age transition comes from southern Africa. Here, Shipton et al. describe the new site Panga ya Saidi on the coast of Kenya that covers the last 78,000 years and shows gradual cultural and technological change in the Late Pleistocene.

Quantification of shale gas reserves is critical to shape the energy policies of countries. Here, the authors present a new procedure to estimate gas in place and show that important UK gas reserves are actually much lower than previously thought.

The genome of the grey short-tailed opossum Monodelphis domestica has been sequenced and analyzed, giving a first peek at a marsupial's genetic code. Of particular interest are the genetics of the immune system, which has been studied as a model for humans, and of the X chromosome for historical reasons.

The effects of genetic variation on DNA methylation patterns are poorly understood. Here, Shi et al.systematically map methylation-quantitative trait loci in lung, breast and kidney tissue to reveal the impact of inherited variation on the human methylome, which also affects cancer risk.

The Val66Met single-nucleotide polymorphism in the BDNF gene is implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders. Anastasia et al.show that this polymorphism results in structural changes in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor prodomain, and growth cone retraction in the hippocampal neurons.

An integrative genomic analysis of several hundred endometrial carcinomas shows that a minority of tumour samples carry copy number alterations or TP53 mutations and many contain key cancer-related gene mutations, such as those involved in canonical pathways and chromatin remodelling; a reclassification of endometrial tumours into four distinct types is proposed, which may have an effect on patient treatment regimes.

An international consortium reports the genomic sequence for ten Drosophila species, and compares them to two other previously published Drosophila species. These data are invaluable for drawing evolutionary conclusions across an entire phylogeny of species at once.

The covalent insertion of fluorophore-labeled DNA adaptors by Tn5 transposase into open chromatin allows its imaging and subsequent analysis by sequencing from exactly the same samples.

The analysis of liver biopsy samples after AAV gene therapy for hemophilia A reveals normal histology and long-term persistence of the episomal vector, and identifies potential factors contributing to interindividual variability of transgene expression.

The temporal activation of kinases and timely ubiquitin-mediated degradation is central to faithful mitosis. Here the authors show that acetylation controlled by Coenzyme A synthase (COASY) and acetyltransferase CBP constitutes a mechanism that ensures faithful mitosis.

Assessing the accuracy of evapotranspiration (ET) data is crucial for managing the water used by crops and natural vegetation. This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of the accuracy of a remotely sensed ET model ensemble from the OpenET system using in situ ET measurements collected across the contiguous United States.

Passegué and colleagues reveal that pro-inflammatory IL-1 accelerates cell division and induces PU.1-mediated differentiation of HSCs into myeloid cells, whereas chronic IL-1 exposure compromises HSC function.

Breast cancer, one of the most common and deadly malignancies, has undoubtedly plagued humans since the dawn of our species. The history of the fight against the disease is one of lurching progress against a backdrop of misery. But recent decades have seen greatly improved treatments and increased survival. By Will Tauxe.

Douglas Easton and colleagues report a genome-wide association analyses for breast cancer in ~70,000 cases and ~68,000 controls. They identify three new breast cancer susceptibility loci, two of which show association only with estrogen receptor–positive disease.

A whole-genome alignment of 240 phylogenetically diverse species of eutherian mammal—including 131 previously uncharacterized species—from the Zoonomia Project provides data that support biological discovery, medical research and conservation.