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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.

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.

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.

The main multidecadal variations in the PDO index during the twentieth century, including the ongoing, decades-long negative trend, were largely driven by human emissions of aerosols and greenhouse gases rather than internal processes.

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.

To better understand the etiology of frailty, the authors perform a large genetic study. They identified 45 additional variants and implicated MET, CHST9, ILRUN, APOE, CGREF1 and PPP6C as potential causal genes, linking frailty to immune regulation, metabolism and cellular signaling.

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.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is prevalent in populations worldwide, however, mostly studied in European and mixed-ancestry populations. Here, the authors perform a genome-wide association study for T2D in over 5,000 sub-Saharan Africans and identify a locus, ZRANB3, that is specific for this population.

Anthropogenic and volcanic aerosols dominate multidecadal variability in aspects of the tropical Atlantic climate, such as sea surface temperatures, Sahel rainfall and hurricanes.

The geography of deep-ocean mixing driven by internal tides is poorly constrained in ocean models. Here the authors unveil the global variability of energetic small-scale internal tides, combining an analytical model with satellite and in situ observations, paving the way to future parameterisations.

A genome-wide association study suggests 41 previously unreported loci on top of the 23 known loci that influence the disease risk for lumbar disc herniations. Many of these loci harbour genes implicated in disc structure and inflammation, as well as genes related to the nervous system and nerve function.

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather patterns worldwide. Numerical experiments with an Earth system model suggest that cloud feedbacks act to amplify ENSO variability by a factor of two or more.

Many genetic factors that contribute to uterine leiomyomata (UL) - the most common tumours of the female genital tract - remain to be discovered. Here, the authors conduct a UL meta-genome-wide association study, and find loci related to altered muscle tissue biology that are associated with UL.

Sexual dimorphism in genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia, systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren’s syndrome is linked to differential protein abundance from alleles of complement component 4.

A 10 μm quantum cascade laser is phase-locked to a remote ultrastable laser referenced to primary frequency standards using an optical frequency comb. The obtained relative stability of 2 × 10⁻¹⁵ is record-breaking in the mid-infrared region.

Sequencing data from two large-scale studies show that most of the genetic variation influencing the risk of type 2 diabetes involves common alleles and is found in regions previously identified by genome-wide association studies, clarifying the genetic architecture of this disease.

Whole-genome sequencing analysis of individuals with primary immunodeficiency identifies new candidate disease-associated genes and shows how the interplay between genetic variants can explain the variable penetrance and complexity of the disease.

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.

The effect of rising greenhouse-gas emissions on climate is not uniform across the globe. An analysis of the mechanisms behind model-projected changes in ocean temperature gives greater confidence in the pattern of tropical warming and its potential impacts.

Comparing the frequency of two distant optical clocks will enable sensitive tests of fundamental physics. Here, the authors compare two strontium optical-lattice clocks 690 kilometres apart to a degree of accuracy that is limited only by the uncertainty of the individual clocks themselves.

Narcolepsy has genetic and environmental risk factors, but the specific genetic risk loci and interaction with environmental triggers are not well understood. Here, the authors identify genetic loci for narcolepsy, suggesting infection as a trigger and dendritic and helper T cell involvement.

The burden of mosaic chromosomal alterations in blood-derived DNA, a type of clonal hematopoiesis, is associated with an increased risk for diverse types of infections, including sepsis and pneumonia.

A consortium reports the tripling of the number of genetic markers in Phase II of the International HapMap Project. This map of human genetic variation will continue to revolutionize discovery of susceptibility loci in common genetic diseases, and study of genes under selection in humans.

The largest meta-analysis of GWASs of hepcidin and sTfR identified 43 genomic loci, of which 15 new. Mendelian randomisation revealed associations of systemic iron status and iron-related loci with selected health outcomes across multiple domains.

Given the aging population, understanding the link between depression and dementia could be crucial to the potential treatment and prevention of dementia in the elderly. In this Review, Byers and Yaffe describe the evidence supporting a role for both earlier-life and late-life depression in dementia. A particular focus is given to the putative biological mechanisms that underlie this association and the implications of depression treatment and prevention for the development of dementia.

Richard Houlston and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for colorectal cancer. They report three loci newly associated with colorectal cancer, bringing the total number of common susceptibility loci to 20.

Sabeti et al. build on their This paper builds on previous work of detecting selection on human genes, using the many more markers available in the Phase II HapMap project. Three examples of apparent population-specific selection based on geographic area are described, and how these may relate to human biology is discussed.