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Here, the authors analyze longitudinal stool microbiome and illness data from Gambian children enroled in a randomised, double-blind iron supplementation trial, showing that those who remained infection-free exhibit higher abundance of Prevotella stercorea, while Escherichia coli and other opportunistic pathogens are enriched in those who developed infection.

HIV epidemic trends among female sex workers in sub-Saharan Africa are rarely known. The authors analyse HIV prevalence trends among female sex workers based in Zimbabwe and report a significant decline between 2016-2017 and 2021-2023, which may be due to increased treatment coverage among the male population.

A combination of whole-genome NanoSeq with deep whole-exome and targeted NanoSeq is used to accurately characterize mutation rates and genes under positive selection in sperm cells.

The relationship between social media use and well-being might change across adolescent development. Here, the authors use cross sectional and longitudinal data to show that distinct developmental windows of sensitivity to social media emerge in adolescence, dependent on age and sex.

This Perspective considers the addition of ACKR1 genetic testing for identifying ACKR1/DARC-associated neutropenia in patients receiving clozapine, recommending eligibility criteria and testing strategies while estimating substantial cost savings for the UK healthcare system and enhancing equitable treatment access.

Household-based studies can provide insights into SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Here, the authors fit transmission models to serological data from Geneva, Switzerland, and estimate that the risk of infection from single household exposure (17.3%) was higher than for extra-household exposure (5.1%).

A single MRI scan can provide reliable estimates of human lifetime brain atrophy, helping overcome lifespan data collection challenges. This may enhance genetic studies of late-life neurodegeneration and reveal new insights into its underlying mechanisms.

Using a nationally representative UK sample of adolescents with clinical-level mental health symptoms, this Registered Report examined differences in social media use. The results suggest that adolescents with mental health conditions spent more time on social media and were less happy about online friends than adolescents without conditions.

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.

This study presents data from the REACT-1 SARS-CoV-2 community sampling study in England from November 2021 to March 2022. They show that the Omicron variant peaked in January with a prevalence of ~7% and that the BA.2 sublineage had a 1.5x higher reproduction number compared to other Omicron sublineages.

How long does the average person sleep? Here, Kocevska et al. conducted a meta-analysis including over 1.1 million people to produce age- and sex-specific population reference charts for sleep duration and efficiency.

Older people have suboptimal responses to primary series vaccines, which can place them at risk for adverse coronavirus disease 2019 outcomes. Here the authors show that booster vaccines provide a substantial increase in antibody levels in the short term but that there is significant waning 100 d after booster shots.

Here the authors provide data from a sub-cohort of the Virus Watch study (19,556 adults) who completed at-home capillary blood sampling on a monthly basis and describe an association between anti-spike antibody levels and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Birthweight has been found to associate with later-life health outcomes. Here the authors perform a meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies of 8,825 neonates from 24 birth cohorts in the Pregnancy And Childhood Epigenetics Consortium, identifying differentially methylated CpGs in neonatal blood that associate with birthweight.

Mathematical modelling of 15 years of data from South Africa reveals the spread and vaccine-driven changes in fitness and antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Transancestral GWAS meta-analysis in 160,420 individuals identifies 139 loci associated with refractive error, including myopia. Newly identified genes implicate pathways involved in eye growth and light signaling cascades.

The authors combine field data with models of coastal geomorphology and bird behaviour and dynamics to understand the impact of sea-level rise on shorebird populations. They show that habitat quality is already declining and that the current focus on habitat quantity loss can underestimate threats.

Genome-wide analysis of self-reported dyslexia identifies 42 associated loci, including 27 not previously associated with cognitive traits. Dyslexia shows genetic correlation with ambidexterity but not neuroanatomical measures of language-related circuitry.

The analysis of pairs of identical SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences enables characterization of transmission patterns between geographies and age groups.

The response to infectious and inflammatory challenges differs among people but the reasons for this are poorly understood. Here the authors explore the impact of variables such as age, sex, and the capacity for controlling inflammation and maintaining immunocompetence, linking this capacity to favourable health outcomes and lifespan.

Clonal haematopoiesis has been thought to occur in less than 10% of individuals younger than 70 years old. Here, the authors use an error corrected next-generation sequencing method to find clonal haematopoiesis in the peripheral blood of 19 of 20 healthy 50–70 year old individuals.

Some enhancers can limit their activities to specific spatial–temporal domains by enhancer suboptimization. Ou et al. find that classical dendritic cell (cDC) development depends on Irf8 suboptimization, which prevents unwanted IRF8 autoactivation in developing cDC2s while maximizing IRF8 expression in developed cDC1s.

Cardiovascular ageing is characterised by a progressive decline in function, which contributes to multi-morbidity. Here, the authors use machine learning to predict biological age and identify key genetic risk factors.

Le Rutte, Shattock et al. develop an individual-based SARS-CoV-2 transmission model to identify thresholds for dominance, health impact, risk to health systems, and required interventions for emerging variants of concern. This model shows that even if an emerging variant is less severe, first generation vaccines might not be sufficient to avoid overloaded health care systems.

Malanchini et al. find that non-cognitive skills increasingly predict academic achievement over development, driven by shared genetic factors whose influence grows over school years. These effects persist across socio-economic contexts and suggest the importance of fostering non-cognitive skills in education.

A transcriptomics study demonstrates cell-type-specific responses to differentially aged blood and shows young blood to have restorative and rejuvenating effects that may be invoked through enhanced mitochondrial function.

Rising global temperatures resulting from climate change have been predicted to increase the future incidence of infectious diseases, including malaria. However, it is known that the range of malaria has contracted through a century of economic development and disease control. This contraction has now been quantified, and compared with the predicted effects of climate on malaria incidence. It is suggested that the impact of rising temperature is likely to be minor.

Current understanding of Long COVID is limited, in part, due to lack of evidence from population-representative studies. Here, the authors analyse data from ten UK population-based studies and electronic health records, and find wide variation in the frequency of Long COVID between studies but some consistent risk factors.

Individual differences in cognitive abilities during childhood are associated with important outcomes in adolescence. Here, the authors show associations between youth cognition and individual-specific patterns of cortical brain network organization.

One explanation for the relative lack of progress in treating cancer in adolescents and young adults is that the biology of malignant diseases in this age group is different. Do molecular, epidemiological and therapeutic outcome comparisons support this?

Here, the authors design a multiplex serology platform to quantitatively measure antibodies against 20 infectious agents in UK Biobank participants and confirm associations of antibody responses with sociodemographic characteristics, HLA genetic variants, and disease outcomes.

Measuring people's finger patterns may reveal some surprising information.

Typhoid fever is caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. Here, Park et al. analyse the genomes of 249 S. Typhi isolates from 11 sub-Saharan African countries, identifying genes and plasmids associated with antibiotic resistance and showing that multi-drug resistance is highly pervasive in sub-Saharan Africa.