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T cells have been shown to have a function in chronic lung inflammation in COPD. Here the authors characterise the single cell transcriptional profile of T cells after smoke inhalation in mouse models showing changes in TCR repertoire and Il17a expression in γδ T cells, suggesting smoke-associated γδ T cells are involved in COPD inflammation and implicating γδT17 cells as a possible target for early prevention and treatment of COPD.

Real-time lab analysis is key to support clinical research during space missions. Here, the authors show scant test samples can be measured in microgravity using a miniature cytometery-based analyzer, the rHEALTH ONE with specific spaceflight modifications.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

Yu et al. report a parameter for screening photoactive materials for semitransparent organic photovoltaics, enabling a light utilization efficiency of 6.05%. Geographical analysis are also conducted and indicates that the hot summer/warm winter zone is more suitable for deploying smart windows.

Achieving generality in asymmetric catalysis with highly reactive radicals is a challenge. Now it is shown that a sequential copper-catalysed approach enables the efficient, enantioselective cross-coupling of over 50 diverse radicals, providing unified access to C-, P- and S-chiral products and advancing the asymmetric synthesis of challenging molecular architectures.

Fungal diseases threaten crops worldwide. By resolving the cryo-EM structure of fungal succinate dehydrogenase, researchers designed an inhibitor with broad antifungal activity, strong field performance, and reduced environmental toxicity.

The selective functionalization of strong, neutral C(sp³)–H bonds, such as in alkanes, is synthetically challenging. Now, a transition-metal- and photosensitizer-free strategy employing allyl bromides as reagents and sodium fluoride as an activator has been developed for the selective C(sp³)–H functionalization of alkanes, cycloalkanes and other relatively unreactive molecules.

The activation of CO₂ for catalytic carboxylation of alkenes is mainly limited to two-electron processes. Now, a visible-light photocatalytic single-electron transfer reduction of CO₂ is reported leading to the key intermediate CO₂^•−, which allows carboxylation of unactivated aliphatic alkenes.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

It is uncertain how much life expectancy of the Chinese population would improve under current and greater policy targets on lifestyle-based risk factors for chronic diseases and mortality behaviours. Here we report a simulation of how improvements in four risk factors, namely smoking, alcohol use, physical activity and diet, could affect mortality. We show that in the ideal scenario, that is, all people who currently smokers quit smoking, excessive alcohol userswas reduced to moderate intake, people under 65 increased moderate physical activity by one hour and those aged 65 and older increased by half an hour per day, and all participants ate 200 g more fresh fruits and 50 g more fish/seafood per day, life expectancy at age 30 would increase by 4.83 and 5.39 years for men and women, respectively. In a more moderate risk reduction scenario referred to as the practical scenario, where improvements in each lifestyle factor were approximately halved, the gains in life expectancy at age 30 could be half those of the ideal scenario. However, the validity of these estimates in practise may be influenced by population-wide adherence to lifestyle recommendations. Our findings suggest that the current policy targets set by the Healthy China Initiative could be adjusted dynamically, and a greater increase in life expectancy would be achieved.

High-temperature resistant dielectric polymers are promising for electrostatic capacitors, though often have poor mechanical strength or energy storage. Here the authors design a hydrogen bonding polymer balancing mechanical and dielectric properties.

Metastatic cancer cells rely on metabolic flexibility to survive. Here, the authors show that metastatic breast cancer cells use lactate for mitochondrial oxidation via the CD147/MCT1/LDHB complex to sustain stemness and promote metastasis.

The coupling of ferroelectricity and magnetic order enables the tunability of material properties. Here, authors realize magnetic-field-enhanced ferroelectricity and electrical-field-controlled magneto-transport in non-magnetic moiré superlattices.

Semi-metallic single crystals of antimony can be deposited using molecular beam epitaxy on molybdenum disulfide to create ohmic contacts with resistance of under 100 Ω µm at a contact length of 18 nm.

A facile light-triggered doping strategy involving a series of inactive photoactivable dopants is described that facilitates tunable regionally controlled n-doping of organic semiconductors, resulting in stable patterning of the doping profile at record high resolutions.

The interplay between flat and dispersive bands in moiré materials has not yet been examined in detail. Now, the phase diagram of a transition metal dichalcogenide bilayer shows correlated states arising from both types of band.

Borylated carbocycles occupy a pivotal position as essential components in synthetic chemistry, drug discovery, and materials science. Herein, the authors present a photorearrangement that involves a boron atom enabled by energy transfer catalysis under visible light conditions.

Z-DNA forms at highly active genes, but its function is unclear. Here, the authors show that MYC recruits FACT to promote Z-DNA formation within nucleosomes, enabling RNA Polymerase II loading and enhancing transcription, revealing a mechanistic role for Z-DNA in MYC-driven regulation.

A gallium-based, iron-embedded liquid metal catalyst enables reversible, magnetic-field-controlled switching between atomically dispersed and clustered iron states, achieving tunable production of CH₃OOH and CH₃COOH under ambient conditions.

The upcycling of waste polyesters offers a sustainable and economically viable solution to the global plastic waste crisis. Here the authors report an esterolysis strategy and demonstrate depolymerization of polyesters to produce high-value ester products.

The contribution of microbial phosphorus cycling to the dissolved phosphate concentration increases along a groundwater flow path from oxic to anoxic conditions, according to groundwater and sediment sampling in the Hetao Basin, China and stable oxygen isotope ratio analysis.

The paper addresses subsurface anomaly detection using radar data. It proposes to enhance the Segment Anything Model with reservoir computing, combining visual segmentation with wave analysis. This approach improves the accuracy of detecting and categorizing underground issues while reducing manual effort.

The streamlined dual-functional group transfer strategy represents an efficient and sustainable approach for difunctionalization reactions, where all atoms or functional groups from the starting materials are fully incorporated into the final products. Herein, the authors report a regioselective pyridylcyanation of internal alkynes enabled by an oxalate-based photocatalytic system, employing cyanopyridine as a streamlined dual-functional group transfer reagent.

Syntaxin-1A, a SNARE protein mediating membrane fusion for neurotransmission, forms clusters with unclear functions. Using light-controlled clustering, the authors found that phase-separation-driven clusters, regulated by Munc18, suppress fusion, revealing a new phase-separation-based mechanism.

The Chinese tree shrew, Tupaia belangeri chinensis, has been proposed as a potential animal model in biomedical research and drug safety testing. This study presents the full genome of the Chinese tree shrew, identifying common features between the tree shrew and primates.

Wang, Fan, Guo, and colleagues present MorphDiff, a transcriptome-guided latent diffusion model that accurately predicts cell morphological responses to perturbations, enhancing MOA identification and phenotypic drug discovery.

Maintaining facial warmth and humidity while ensuring adequate oxygen intake in cold environments is challenging for facial masks. Here, the authors design a MetaMask that recovers heat and moisture from exhaled air to warm inhaled air to 26.2 °C in a − 20 °C environment, while maintaining sufficient oxygen levels.

Replacing animal feathers and wool with synthetic materials can ameliorate the ethical and environmental issues associated with the production of clothing designed to retain warmth. Here the authors present synthetic nanofibre textiles that combine wearability, comfort, lightness and thermal insulation.

The primary entry route of vanilloid ligands to the vanilloid-binding site in transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is found to be a distinct and targetable hydrophobic pathway at the TRPV1–cell membrane interface rather than through direct membrane penetration.

Neutrophil-derived IL-1β has a role in preserving lipid stores during metabolic stress.

Liquid crystals on silicon (LCoS) devices are limited by the polarization sensitivity and reliance on complex architectures for full-color integration. Here, the authors demonstrate a metasurface-integrated LCoS device for polarisation-insensitive, full-color amplitude modulation on a single chip.

Modules of foldable crystalline silicon solar cells retain their power-conversion efficiency after being subjected to bending stress or exposure to air-flow simulations of a violent storm.

Reactive capture bypasses CO₂ regeneration, enabling efficient CO production but with low Faradaic efficiency. The authors report a Ni–N₃ molecular catalyst that resists amino acid adsorption and promotes efficient CO production in amino-acid systems.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown promise in tumour immunotherapy but resistance has been seen. Here using pre-treatment hepatocellular carcinoma patient biopsies from patients scheduled for immunotherapy, the authors implicate BCL9 and show that a BCL9-targeting peptide promotes anti-tumour immunity in mouse models through targeting macrophages and promoting anti-tumour T cell responses.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.