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Cell clusters mechanically reorganize viscoelastic collagen networks, resulting in transient gradients in collagen density, alignment and stiffness that promote spontaneous persistent migration.

Self-propelled colloidal particles can be potentially used to transport cargoes at the microscale, but it is challenging to prevent randomization of their motion by Brownian rotations. Here, Das et al.quench these rotations by solid walls, which guide in-plane swimming without the need for external fields.

A soft robotic probe enables continuous in utero monitoring of fetal physiological parameters, including heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, temperature and electrocardiogram data, during open or fetoscopic surgery to provide real-time information on fetal condition and distress.

Untrustworthy sources or detectors mean that quantum entanglement cannot always be ensured, but quantum steering inequalities can verify its presence. Using a highly efficient system, Smithet al. are able to close the detection loophole and clearly demonstrate steering between two parties.

Koh, Ma et al. show that during climbing, mouse motor cortex instructs limb muscle activity patterns primarily by selectively activating certain muscles at certain activity states, via neural activity patterns distinct from those previously described.

Interpreting spectroscopic data in real time remains a challenge in chemical characterization. Here a digital twin framework is developed that links first-principles theory and experimental data via a bidirectional feedback loop, enabling on-the-fly decision-making and insights into reaction mechanisms based on measured spectra during chemical experiments.

Natural products and their synthesis have always fascinated organic chemists, frequently providing the inspiration and testing ground for new synthetic methods. This Review considers examples of natural products that were prepared first synthetically and predicted to be natural products prior to their isolation from nature.

MatterGen is a model that generates stable, diverse inorganic materials across the periodic table and can further be fine-tuned to steer the generation towards a broad range of property constraints.

Overcoming reciprocity is important for novel functionalities. Here, the authors demonstrate a spatio-temporally modulated metasurface capable of complete violation of Lorentz reciprocity by reflecting an incident beam into far-field radiation in forward scattering, but into near-field surface waves in reverse scattering.

Forming and steering a tight optical focus noninvasively in scattering media is a pivotal challenge in biomedical optics. The authors present an iterative time-reversal mechanism using nonlinearity to achieve this without a point-like guide star.

Bisphenol A, a widely used polymer building block and product additive, activates oestrogen receptors to elicit adverse effects in humans and animals with profound negative impacts on human and environmental welfare. Now, by following the Safe and Sustainable by Design framework, renewable, non-oestrogenic bisphenol A analogues have been identified.

Flap Endonuclease 1 is a DNA replication and repair enzyme indispensable for maintaining genomic stability. Here the authors provide mechanistic details on how FEN1 selects for 5′-flaps and promotes catalysis to avoid large-scale repeat expansion by a process termed ‘phosphate steering’.

Understanding the photoelectron emission time after the interaction of photon with atoms and molecules is of fundamental interest. Here the authors examine the role of partial waves to the photoionization phase shift of atoms using an attosecond clock and electron-ion coincidence spectroscopy.

Despite a rise in COVID-19 cases among children, there is limited understanding of the antibody responses mounted, compared to in adults. In this work, authors compare seroconversion rates and antibody responses in unvaccinated Australian children across the three SARS-CoV-2 waves (Wuhan, Delta and Omicron).

Childhood infection with SARS CoV2 is associated with a milder course of infection but the immunopathogenesis of this remains unclear. Here the authors explore immunological differences in the innate immune system during acute and convalescent SARS CoV2 infection in the young.

Here the authors use synthetic tools to control elements of the cytoskeleton during amoeboid migration. They uncover two feedback loops sufficient to generate cell polarity; one at the cell front in where branched actin polymerization increases Ras activation, and at the back, myosin filament assembly inhibits Ras activation.

Wind farms would benefit from optimization of their design and operation. Harrison-Atlas et al. report an artificial intelligence-aided optimization approach that shows the potential of wake steering strategies to minimize land requirements and costs.

The impact of different strategies aimed at reducing meat consumption is context dependent. A randomized control trial using data from 100,000 meals reveals the cost effectiveness of exposing students to a 50 min talk on the consequences of meat consumption for health and climate.

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a chronic auto-inflammatory reaction to group A streptococcal infection, and frequently occurs in individuals from the South Pacific. This study finds a novel association between an immunoglobulin heavy chain allele and risk of RHD in Pacific Islanders and South Asians.

Streptococcus pyogenes causes ~750 million infections and more than 500,000 deaths each year. In this study, human volunteers were challenged with S. pyogenes and participants that developed pharyngitis had elevated levels of cytokines, and increased migration and activation of immune cells.

Streptococcus pyogenes is a deadly bacteria without a vaccine. Here, researchers measured antibodies in serum and saliva from a strep throat human challenge trial. Baseline antibodies led to variable responses and affected susceptibility to strep throat.

This Review highlights how membrane technology can drive sustainability and steer industries towards a sustainable future, providing perspectives on materials, manufacturing processes and applications with respect to energy saving, process intensification and environmental impacts.

Andrew D. Maynard considers the challenges of ensuring the responsible development and use of converging technologies.

Quantum metrology investigates the improvement given to precision measurements by exploiting quantum mechanics, but it has been mostly limited to systems with static Hamiltonians. Here the authors study it in the general case of time-varying Hamiltonians, showing that optimizing the quantum Fisher information via quantum control provides an advantage.

Metasurface alignment marks enable precise 3D measurement of relative positions of distant objects using only a laser and a camera, achieving sub-nanometer precision. Applications include 3D chips manufacturing and displacement sensors.

Evolution has produced a range of diverse proteins, and now a generative model called Chroma can expand that set by allowing the user to design new proteins and protein complexes with desired properties and functions.

The forced expression of key transcription factors can induce somatic cells to acquire pluripotency characteristics; here high levels of reprogramming factors are used to induce mouse embryonic fibroblasts to a stable alternative pluripotent state with low intercellular adhesion.

HIV-1 vaccine design aims to induce broadly neutralizing antibodies such as IOMA, the only described antibody in its class. Here, the authors present the isolation, characterisation and structure of three additional antibodies within the IOMA class

Rheumatic heart disease is a substantial global health problem that particularly affects developing countries. In this article, Andrew Steer and Jonathan Carapetis review the pathophysiology and epidemiology of this disease and discuss strategies for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. They also emphasize the importance of secondary prophylaxis programs and highlight the potential for vaccine development.

By recording from the Drosophila mushroom body during active odor navigation, Zolin et al. reveal that dopaminergic reinforcement pathways encode rewards and goal-directed actions through similar patterns of neural activity and dopamine release.

Mixed Lineage Kinase Domain-Like (MLKL) pseudokinase is phosphorylated by RIPK3 kinase prior to cell death by necroptosis. Here, the authors use monobodies that bind to the MLKL pseudokinase domain as tools, which allowed them to determine the crystal structures of the MLKL pseudokinase domain in two distinct conformations. By combining their structural data with cell signalling assays and MD simulations they provide evidence that endogenous MLKL preassociates with its upstream regulator RIPK3, and that MLKL disengages from RIPK3 following the induction of necroptosis.

Patients with metastatic cancers of unknown primary (CUP) are currently unable to gain access to drugs through standard of care or clinical trials. Here, the authors perform whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing (WGTS) on 72 patients with CUP and demonstrate the feasibility of using WGTS to determine the specific cancer types of CUP, thereby clinically benefiting patients with CUP.

Resistance to therapy can be driven by intratumoral heterogeneity. Here, the authors show that drug tolerant persistent cell populations emerge during treatment, and these emergent populations arise through epigenetically mediated cell state transitions rather than sub population selection.

MEMS-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are often limited in speed by mechanical resonances. Here the authors report a programmable architecture for PICs which uses mechanical eigenmodes for synchronized, resonantly enhanced optical modulation.

Photoacoustic tomography using a single laser pulse and a single element functioning as thousands of virtual detectors allows for the volumetric capture of fast haemodynamic changes in the feet of human volunteers.

Virtual optical waveguide can be potentially utilised in variety of applications that require in situ light steering yet the efficacy is still unclear. Here, the authors show that ultrasonically-sculpted virtual gradient-index waveguides are effective in guiding and confining light inside tissue and other scattering media, and significantly outperform external lenses at this task.

Corrosion is a ubiquitous failure mode in materials. Here the authors report a percolating 1D wormhole corrosion morphology using advanced electron microscopy and theoretical simulations. The work presents a vacancy mapping method with nm-resolution, identifying the incubation sites of the wormholes.

Ticks transmit a large number of pathogens that cause human diseases. Here, the authors sequence the genome of the tick Ixodes scapularisand uncover expansion of genes associated with parasitic processes unique to ticks and tick-host interactions.

Pump–probe measurements conventionally achieve femtosecond time resolution for X-ray crystallography of reactive processes, but the measured structural dynamics are complex. Using coherent control techniques, we show that the ultrafast crystallographic differences of a fluorescent protein are dominated by ground-state vibrational processes that are unconnected to the photoisomerization reaction of the chromophore.

Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) is an emerging cause of human infection closely related to Streptococcus pyogenes. Here the authors investigate the degree of genomic similarity between the two species and assess implications for development of vaccines.

Advances in materials and techniques are restoring damaged body parts to full function.