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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.

Assessment of how 16 taxonomic groups in a lowland tropical forest resist and recover from anthropogenic disturbance shows the potential of protecting naturally regenerating secondary forests to reverse biodiversity losses.

DNA-sequencing data from primary tumours and paired metastases from participants in the TRACERx lung study and PEACE autopsy programme are used to analyse the metastatic diversity of advanced non-small cell lung cancer and the seeding patterns that underpin it.

During model distillation, large language models can subtly transmit traits unrelated to the training data.

Identifying low-cost options for a healthy diet is an essential step towards allowing all people to meet their nutritional needs. This study measures the frontiers of the lowest available cost and greenhouse gas emissions for a healthy diet in 171 countries, as well as healthy diets reflecting consumption patterns in each country.

The two species of African elephants are facing severe declines. Here, authors assess their continent-wide genomic diversity, identifying differences in their evolutionary histories and highlighting the formative role of gene flow.

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.

Using interviews, this paper establishes that experts agree government intervention is critical in enabling climate-resilient housing, given the transformative potential of regulatory reform, finance, and information services.

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).

This paper conducted a priority-setting exercise to identify ten questions that define the future direction of blue carbon science. It highlights key gaps, emerging challenges and opportunities for advancing climate mitigation, ecosystem management and evidence-based policy.

The results obtained by seventy different teams analysing the same functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset show substantial variation, highlighting the influence of analytical choices and the importance of sharing workflows publicly and performing multiple analyses.

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.

Sheep producers face growing expectations to produce more food, conserve biodiversity, stay profitable and cut emissions. The authors find that interventions work best when addressing underperforming environmental, economic, or psychological areas.

This study finds that decision markets can be a useful tool for selecting studies for replication. For a sample of 26 online experiments published in PNAS selected by a decision market, the authors find replication rates ranging between 54% and 62%.

Stricter regulations on ship-induced air pollution have triggered the installation of ship exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers), but these scrubbers pollute the seas. A study shows that the private economic benefits of installing scrubbers come at the expense of marine environmental damage and that the scrubber systems are paid off in only a few years.

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.

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.

This study assessed COVID-19 social science preprints’ replicability using structured groups. Both beginners and more-experienced participants used a elicitation protocol to make better-than-chance predictions about the reliability of research claims under high uncertainty.

Conventional blue denim dyeing has both environmental and health-related consequences. Here, Bidart et al. use enzyme engineering to develop a viable method for the bulk production of indican and demonstrate dying processes which could significantly reduce the negative consequences of this billion-dollar industry.

Genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies 58 independent risk loci for major anxiety disorders among individuals of European ancestry and implicates GABAergic signaling as a potential mechanism underlying genetic risk for these disorders.

The Healthy Diet Basket (HDB) is used for the measurement of Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet globally. This analysis compares the economic, nutritional and environmental characteristics of least-cost diets following the HDB with national food-based dietary guidelines and the EAT-Lancet diet, demonstrating the use of the HDB as a global standard of healthy and sustainable diets.

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.

The controlled degradation of larger and potentially harmful molecules into smaller, and preferably valuable, products is a crucial step to close the waste–degradation–synthesis loop envisioned by circular chemistry. Now, a forward-synthesis algorithm is designed to facilitate such degradation-oriented analyses, and proof-of-concept experimental validation is provided.

Fine-mapping of causal variants and integration of epigenetic and chromatin conformation data identify likely target genes for 150 breast cancer risk regions.

Known genetic loci account for only a fraction of the genetic contribution to Alzheimer’s disease. Here, the authors have performed a large genome-wide meta-analysis comprising 409,435 individuals to discover 6 new loci and demonstrate the efficacy of an Alzheimer’s disease polygenic risk score.

The authors measure numerous ecosystem functions across an elevational gradient on Mt Kilimanjaro and find that species richness impacts function more than species turnover across sites. They also show that variation in species richness impacts ecosystem functioning more strongly at the landscape scale than at the local scale.

Consensus exists on the urgent need for food systems to be more sustainable, but defining their environmentally safe operating space is challenging. This study proposes food system boundaries as a share of planetary boundaries, defining budgets across nine boundaries and revealing where boundary transgression is most critical.

Estimates from the Global Dietary Database indicated that 2.2 million new type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cardiovascular disease cases were attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages worldwide in 2020, with the highest burdens in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

In Australia, the geographic and relaxed temporal requirements for the use of renewable energy certificates could ensure that hydrogen is produced with minimal greenhouse gas emissions and at a low cost, according to an analysis that employs an energy system model and scenario approach

Similarities in cancers can be studied to interrogate their etiology. Here, the authors use genome-wide association study summary statistics from six cancer types based on 296,215 cases and 301,319 controls of European ancestry, showing that solid tumours arising from different tissues share a degree of common germline genetic basis.

Global warming is causing widespread coral mortality through bleaching. Here, simulations of coral eco-evolutionary dynamics forecast strong population declines in the 21st century. Coral reefs may collapse by 2100, unless global warming is limited to 2 °C, enabling corals to adapt and persist.

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.

Carbon payments for afforestation can help mitigate climate change and declining biodiversity. This paper evaluates 14 policy mechanisms for supplying carbon and biodiversity benefits through reforestation in Australia’s 85.3 Mha of agricultural land.

This study presents the first annual update of the indicator framework developed by the Food Systems Countdown Initiative, published in Nature Food in 2023. Almost half of all indicators show some desirable trends. Governance and resilience indicators were revealed as the most connected across themes, constituting entry points for transformative change.

University-based energy centres play an important role in climate discourse but many are funded by fossil fuel businesses. This study shows that fossil-fuel-funded centres express more positive sentiment towards natural gas, compared to renewable energy, than those not funded by the fossil industry.

An investigation using various methods reports an association between adeno-associated virus 2 and paediatric hepatitis of unknown aetiology.

There is debate about when electrolytic hydrogen produced from grid-connected renewables should qualify as ‘low carbon’. Here the authors explore how additionality and the degree of time matching between electrolysers’ electricity consumption and contracted renewable energy generation impacts emissions and costs.

Openshaw and colleagues find myeloid inflammation and complement activation signatures in patients with long COVID who were previously hospitalized.

Little is known about the diets of early modern humans as they dispersed into Australia. Here, Florin et al. study charred plant remains from Madjedbebe rockshelter, which show that 65–53 thousand years ago, early modern humans in northern Australia already had a broad diet of plants.

Contrary to the view that urbanization is a major driver of the global rise in obesity, the global increase in body-mass index is shown to be mostly due to increases in the body-mass indexes of rural populations.

Although plant-based protein-rich (PBPR) foods contain nutritionally bioactive compounds, they are often classified as ultra-processed foods, which most consumers perceive as unhealthy. Using a non-targeted metabolomic approach, this study shows that existing food classification systems do not consider the biochemical composition of PBPR foods, potentially misleading consumers to avoid these products.

Fruit and vegetable supply in the United Kingdom has increasingly been characterized by reduced domestic production of fruit and vegetables and increased reliance on imports from climate-vulnerable countries. With increasing climate change, this may impact availability, price and consumption of fruit and vegetables in the UK, with health consequences, particularly for older people and low-income households.