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Global analysis of obesity trends from 1980 to 2024 in 200 countries and territories using data from 4,050 population-based studies reveals that framing obesity as a single global epidemic masks the highly varied dynamics across countries and age groups.

Global Burden of Disease analysis found that in 2023, suboptimal diet was estimated to be responsible for 4 million deaths and 97 million morbidity burdens from ischemic heart disease.

Epigenetic programming of myeloid and CD4⁺ T cells promotes decay of the SIV reservoir in rhesus macaques and a similar molecular pathway is found in HIV elite controllers.

The transmission dynamics of the 2023–2024 Oropouche virus (OROV) outbreak in Brazil (Manaus City) revealed a twofold increase in Oropouche seroprevalence in Manaus, and in a separate historical reconstruction, the authors estimate that there were approximately 9.4 million OROV infections during major outbreaks across Latin America and the Caribbean.

This study reveals how understory forest plants in the Central Amazon adapt their nutrient acquisition strategies in response to elevated atmospheric CO₂, based on an in situ open-top chamber experiment. To support the CO₂ fertilization effect, plants adjust contrasting strategies to extract nutrients from litter and soil layers. This process intensifies competition between plants and microbes and may lead to declines in soil organic phosphorus, with important implications for carbon–phosphorus dynamics and the resilience of forests under climate change.

Genetic analyses in more than 15,000 individuals from across the Americas, including individuals with autism and family members, define the genetic landscape of autism in Latin American populations and identify significant overlap with other ancestries.

Longitudinal metatranscriptomics in a prospective cohort of 1,164 adults hospitalized for COVID-19 reveals that azithromycin offered no apparent anti-inflammatory benefit but enriched the respiratory microbiome with potential pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes.

Integration of mosquito and non-human primate surveillance and viral metagenomics reveals yellow fever virus outbreak dynamics at an urban–forest interface in Brazil.

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).

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.

Here the authors compare genetic testing strategies in rare movement disorders, improve diagnostic yield with genome analysis, and establish CD99L2 as an X-linked spastic ataxia gene, showing that CD99L2–CAPN1 signaling disruption likely drives neurodegeneration.

Global Burden of Disease estimates show that between 1990 and 2023, the prevalence and burden of drug use disorders, inclusive of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use, have been increasing in high-income countries, particularly in the USA.

This study shows that liquid-liquid phase separation enhances the catalytic efficiency of peptides by up to 15,000-fold through the formation of peptide coacervates. These microreactors can also selectively recruit phosphorylated proteins, providing insights into the evolution of enzymatic activity.

The Amazon faces worsening droughts, yet little is known about large-scale variation in the physiological limits of Amazon trees. Here, the authors reveal family-level conservatism in embolism resistance and estimate that Brazilian and Guiana shield forests are more resistant than Western Amazonia forests.

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

Here, the authors present results of the ZiBRA-2 project (https://www.zibra2project.org) which is an arbovirus surveillance project, across the Midwest of Brazil using a mobile genomics laboratory, combined with a genomic surveillance training program that targeted post-graduate students, laboratory technicians, and health practitioners in universities and laboratories.

Chikungunya virus is endemic in Brazil and cases have been rapidly increasing in recent years. Here, the authors describe the expansion of a genomic surveillance program across the country allowing them to characterise the emergence and dispersal of two distinct subclades mainly seeded from the north eastern region.

Alström syndrome (AöS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by metabolic problems. Here, the authors show that in AöS models, defects in cilia and autophagy lead to ACBP accumulation, which drives obesity. An anti-ACBP antibody reduces weight gain and metabolic dysfunction, highlighting ACBP as a therapeutic target for this ciliopathy.

Calcium ions (Ca²⁺) are essential for cardiomyocyte function. In this Review, Gomez and colleagues describe how Ca²⁺ signalling in microdomains and nanodomains links electrical excitation to cardiomyocyte contraction, gene transcription and mitochondrial bioenergetics, and how this coupling is altered and might be therapeutically targeted in disease states.

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.

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a scaffold and tyrosine kinase protein, critical for proper cardiac function under stress conditions. Here the authors show that the small heat–shock protein αB-crystallin interacts with FAK and protects it from calpain-mediated proteolysis in stressed rat cardiomyocytes.

Petrels are wide-ranging, highly threatened seabirds that often ingest plastic. This study used tracking data for 7,137 petrels of 77 species to map global exposure risk and compare regions, species, and populations. The results show higher exposure risk for threatened species and stress the need for international cooperation to tackle marine litter.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) frequency and risk factors vary considerably across regions and ancestries. Here, the authors conduct a multi-ancestry genome-wide association study and fine mapping study of HNSCC subsites in cohorts from multiple continents, finding susceptibility and protective loci, gene-environment interactions, and gene variants related to immune response.

Fusion genes involving KMT2A rearrangements are frequent oncogenic drivers of acute myeloid leukaemia (KMT2A-r AML) but the cell of origin remains unclear. Here, using preclinical models of EVI1 positive KMT2A-r AML the authors investigate the cell of origin and find that the presence of exogenous factors influences AML initiation and the resulting phenotype.

A high-resolution, global atlas of mortality of children under five years of age between 2000 and 2017 highlights subnational geographical inequalities in the distribution, rates and absolute counts of child deaths by age.

Tactile sensing is essential for interacting with the environment. A bioinspired spiking neuronal network and large-area e-skin is presented, which enables unsupervised learning of touch localization and two-point discrimination.

Moreno-Loaiza et al. found that interleukin-1β, acting upon cardiac resident macrophages, promotes atrial fibrillation in mice, and this mechanism may represent a common pathway connecting various risk factors to this arrhythmia.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

Human infections with swine-origin influenza A viruses occur sporadically. Here, the authors describe the genomic and epidemiological characteristics of eight cases detected in southern Brazil between 2020 and 2023 and find close links to isolates from pigs, suggesting limited human-to-human transmission.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of type 2 diabetes (T2D) identifies more than 600 T2D-associated loci; integrating physiological trait and single-cell chromatin accessibility data at these loci sheds light on heterogeneity within the T2D phenotype.

Geospatial estimates of the prevalence of anemia in women of reproductive age across 82 low-income and middle-income countries reveals considerable heterogeneity and inequality at national and subnational levels, with few countries on track to meet the WHO Global Nutrition Targets by 2030.

Solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of infectious disease and have unique molecular pathophysiology. Here the authors use host-microbe profiling to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection and immunity in solid organ transplant recipients, showing enhanced viral abundance, impaired clearance, and increased expression of innate immunity genes.