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A large-scale study on the replicability of claims from social and behavioural science journals reports that about half of the results replicate in the same patterns as the original study.

When 100 social and behavioural science claims were examined, 34% of reanalyses closely matched the original results, with 74% reaching the same conclusion, revealing limited robustness of single-path analyses and the need to address analytical uncertainty.

A study of reproducibility in a stratified random sample of 600 papers published from 2009 to 2018 in 62 journals spanning the social and behavioural sciences finds higher reproducibility among more recent papers and papers from journals that require data sharing.

Robustness checks and reproduction of analyses with existing and updated data based on 110 articles in economics and political science journals with data and code-sharing requirements found high levels of robustness and reproducibility and determined that robustness was not dependent on author characteristics or data availability.

Understanding collective behaviour is an important aspect of managing the pandemic response. Here the authors show in a large global study that participants that reported identifying more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies in the context of the pandemic.

Efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T in solid tumors are limited by the antigen heterogeneity and tumor microenvironment (TME) induced exhaustion. The authors here manifested that Nr2f6-deficient CAR-T cells have superior anti-tumor effect compared with traditional CAR-T cells, which is associated with enhanced cytotoxic function, followed by durable response due to epitope spreading.

A global analysis of 1,412 studies shows that one in five women and one in six men experienced sexual violence as children, highlighting the urgent need for evidence-based prevention and intervention programmes worldwide.

Protein citrullination is linked to autoimmunity and inflammation but is challenging to detect globally. Here, the authors report a high-throughput chemical proteomics workflow and demonstrate its utility by quantifying the dynamic citrullinome in human neutrophils.

Over five years, implementation of the NHS England Lung Cancer Screening Programme achieved high early-stage detection rates and demonstrated that the programme is both feasible and scalable for reaching high-risk and underserved populations.

Starburst galaxies are seen to host galaxy-scale winds, which are super-fast and could be powered entirely by the thermal pressure of gas heated by supernovae.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

Using individual-level data from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register and fecal metagenomes of 14,979 individuals in Sweden, the authors examined the association between oral antibiotic use over 8 years and gut microbiome and found evidence that antibiotics can have long-lasting impacts on the gut microbiome.

Interspecies transmission of influenza A viruses requires adaptation of the viral polymerase to the host importin-α. Here, the polymerase subunit PB2 and the nucleoprotein of avian viruses are found to require importin-α3, whereas mammalian viruses are shown to require importin-α7.

Genome-wide analyses in the Norwegian HUNT study with replication in Swedish and Finnish cohorts identify host genetic variants associated with gut microbiome features and provide evidence of a causal effect of body mass index on gut microbiota composition.

Segmented Filamentous Bacteria (SFB) are understudied commensals that promote immune activation through their attachment to the intestinal epithelium. Here, Cruz et al. use cryo-electron microscopy and tomography to identify various surface structures and uncover a developmental transition at the SFB adhesive tip.

Break-induced replication (BIR) repairs broken DNA but can also destabilize genomes. The authors identify 33 new genes controlling BIR completion, showing that spindle assembly and spindle positioning checkpoints coordinate repair, and that nuclear pore proteins regulate BIR at multiple steps.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.

This Registered Report presents evidence from 87 countries and regions showing that brief emotion-regulation interventions consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experts from 45 countries find that implementation and coordination, not ecological knowledge, form the main barrier to restoring free-flowing rivers, according to a study using a modified Delphi process to identify and rank research priorities for river restoration.

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.

The variability in clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection is partly due to deficiencies in production or response to type I interferons (IFN). Here, the authors describe a FIP200-dependent lysosomal degradation pathway, independent of canonical autophagy and type I IFN, that restricts SARS-CoV-2 replication, offering insights into critical COVID-19 pneumonia mechanisms.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

Gassler et al. implant a free-living bacterium into fungal cells to study early steps in the establishment of an endosymbiosis. They observe vertical transmission of the bacteria despite initial host stress, with fungal defense responses attenuating over time, indicating a shift from antagonism toward commensalism.

Meet the literary agent.

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.

By learning a differentiation potential using an optimal transport-based approach, STORIES models and infers cell fate trajectories using spatiotemporal omics data.

Plunge into a profusion of brilliant summer reads suggested by regular reviewers and editors, far away from the lab and lecture hall.

Variations in expression of the gene ORMDL3 were found to be associated with development of childhood asthma, suggesting this gene should be examined in more patient groups.

A region on chromosome 19p13 is associated with the risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer. Here, the authors genotyped SNPs in this region in thousands of breast and ovarian cancer patients and identified SNPs associated with three genes, which were analysed with functional studies.

Analyses of 475 ancient horse genomes show modern horses emerged around 2200 bce, coinciding with sudden expansion across Eurasia, refuting the narrative of large horse herds accompanying earlier migrations of steppe peoples across Europe.

Here the authors show that chromosomal instability signatures can predict resistance to anthracycline-, taxane- and platinum-based chemotherapeutics in breast, ovarian and prostate cancer and sarcoma. Validation is performed through emulation of phase 2 and 3 clinical trials using real-world data.

Analysis of soundscape data from 139 globally distributed sites reveals that sounds of biological origin exhibit predictable rhythms depending on location and season, whereas sounds of anthropogenic origin are less predictable. Comparisons between paired urban–rural sites show that urban green spaces are noisier and dominated by sounds of technological origin.

mRNA vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 also sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Spatial transcriptomic studies and lineage tracing reveal that, after brain injury, transient profibrotic fibroblasts develop from existing brain fibroblasts, infiltrate lesions, regulate the local immune response and lead to beneficial scar tissue formation.

Phylogenomic analysis of 7,923 angiosperm species using a standardized set of 353 nuclear genes produced an angiosperm tree of life dated with 200 fossil calibrations, providing key insights into evolutionary relationships and diversification.

Lipid particles loaded with RNA coding for tumour-unspecific antigens can enhance early responses of type-I interferons, mediating the success of immune checkpoint inhibitors as well as epitope spreading.

Heat increases heart rate across vertebrates. Here, authors pinpoint a motif in the HCN4 channel that governs heat-driven heart rate acceleration and demonstrate its conserved role in other HCN channels, revealing a conserved mechanism linking temperature to membrane excitability.

This study reveals that water availability at the wound determines plant regeneration outcomes. High water availability induces root regeneration whereas low water availability triggers callus formation via stress hormones that shape auxin response maxima to activate distinct regeneration pathways.

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.

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.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.