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This Primer provides a comprehensive overview of laser Doppler vibrometry, covering fundamental principles, advanced measurement methods and diverse applications. It highlights performance limits, measurement ranges, future opportunities and practical considerations, including laser safety and calibration, and is supported by extensive supplementary information.

Many fusion oncoproteins (FOs) form condensates, some form in the nucleus and regulate gene expression while others form in the cytoplasm and promote cell signaling. In this work, the authors report the analysis of physicochemical features to enable prediction of FO condensation behavior.

Arboviruses are transmitted by arthropods and include a number of critical human and zoonotic pathogens. Here the authors report a phage display library, ArboScan, for evaluating antibody binding to the peptidome of 691 human and zoonotic arthropod borne viruses, and use it to profile anti-arbovirus antibodies from diverse samples.

Hepatitis B virus is an almost uniquely human-tropic pathogen for which model systems are scarce. Here, the authors determine key residues within the HBV receptor that form a barrier in the HBV life cycle in primates and identify marmosets as a model candidate for infection with simian-tropic HBV.

HLAIIPred is an end-to-end, context-free deep learning model that predicts peptide-HLAII presentation using only sequence and allele input. It outperforms existing models, predicts core residues, and identifies immunogenic hotspots in antibodies.

The gut microbiota can alter the effects of anticancer fluoropyrimidines such as 5-fluorodeoxyuridine (FUdR) in the model organism C. elegans. Here, the authors show that these effects are further affected by diet, and dietary thymidine and serine increase FUdR toxicity in C. elegans via different mechanisms.

A high-throughput method leveraging the Illumina HiSeq platform to screen in the order of 10⁸ individual antibody–antigen interactions within 3 days facilitates the rapid discovery of antibodies to clinically relevant targets.

Nanopore electrical detection has shown potential in sensing subtle protein and peptide conformation changes, and its sensitivity makes it promising for point-of-care applications. In this Review, the authors discuss the capability of nanopore sensing for detecting and quantifying conformational modifications and enantiomers in biomarker proteins and peptides, as well as the practicalities and challenges for this approach to be used for clinical and point-of-care diagnosis.

Platelet aggregation is associated with myocardial infarction and stroke. Here, the authors have conducted a whole genome sequencing association study on platelet aggregation, discovering a locus in RGS18, where enhancer assays suggest an effect on activity of haematopoeitic lineage transcription factors.

A multiancestry genome-wide association study of chronic alanine aminotransferase elevation identifies candidate risk loci for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, with replication in external cohorts defined by histology or imaging.

Reduced dependence on wild-caught fish in favour of crop-based ingredients for feeds has supported aquaculture growth. An analysis of ingredient origins versus feed composition shows that origin must be considered to assess the environmental footprint of feed production.

Using fMRI, this study developed a brain signature for affective arousal that demonstrates high sensitivity across valence while remaining distinct from autonomic arousal and wakefulness, offering broad applications.

The far-red fluorescent protein mMaroon1 and a reporter based on stem-loop binding protein enables the generation of Fucci4, a 4-color cell cycle reporter system that can be used to distinguish all phases of the cell cycle. Also online, a paper by Laviv et al. uses mMaroon1 as a FRET acceptor for the newly developed CyRFP1.

The rapid expansion of agricultural irrigation raises concerns about exacerbating water scarcity, but land–atmosphere interactions are often overlooked. This study isolates irrigation impacts from other drivers using a multi-model framework to reveal that historical irrigation expansion substantially reduces net atmospheric water influx, intensifying drying trends and accelerating terrestrial water storage depletion, urging immediate mitigation strategies.

Mutualisms in which ants protect plants in exchange for food and shelter have arisen independently multiple times. Here, Rubin and Moreau sequence the genomes of three mutualistic ant species and four of their non-mutualistic relatives and show that the transition to mutualism is associated with elevated evolutionary rates across the genome

Snowball Earth glaciations were some of the most extreme climate events in Earth history, and are temporally linked to major biogeochemical changes. Here, using geochemical proxies, the authors show that during the Marinoan glaciation, there was likely open water, active oxygen production, and nitrogen cycling.

Kiefer et al. sequence the metagenome of the sawtoothed grain beetle and demonstrate how its symbiont mechanistically helps the host by providing tyrosine. Providing this amino acid in the pupal stage and early adulthood supports cuticle biosynthesis and highlights implications regarding the use of glyphosate for insect populations harboring bacterial endosymbionts.

Elevated body mass index is heritable and associated with many health conditions that impact morbidity and mortality. Here, the authors identify greater than 900 genetic loci for body mass index (BMI) and find over 300 diagnoses associated with increasing BMI.

Cancer is often associated with mutant transcription factors (TFs) but their functional characterization is challenging. Here, the authors describe a recurrent mutation within TF IRF4 in human lymphomas and they show how it causes a complex switch in TF specificity and functionality.

M-CREATE is an in vivo screening strategy for identifying recombinant AAVs with desired tropism. The approach involves both positive and negative selection and yields vectors with diversified cell-type tropism that can cross the blood–brain barrier in adult mice across strains when delivered intravenously.

Laboratory experiments reproduce the three-dimensional pancake-like shape of Jupiter’s vortices. The thickness of the Great Red Spot is predicted, awaiting comparison with NASA’s Juno mission.

Large-scale mechanisms causing regional drying are not well understood. Models and observational data reveal that human-caused changes in GHGs and aerosols led to detectable global and hemispheric signals in the joint behaviour of precipitation, temperature and aridity since the 1950s.

The FDA Accelerated Approval pathway, which has been pivotal in enabling early access to new oncology drugs over the past three decades, has recently come under increased scrutiny. New draft guidance published in March 2023 offers several possible solutions to improve this pathway, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for patients with cancer, but might also have important limitations.

The alternative splicing factor Nova2 is best known for its pivotal function in the brain. Giampietro et al. reveal an important role for Nova2 in the regulation of alternative splicing of transcripts in the vascular endothelium that are crucial for the maintenance of endothelial cell polarity and vessel lumen formation in zebrafish.

Although irrigation expansion during the 20th century masked or even reversed local warming trends over some intensely irrigated regions, the exposure to moist-heat extremes of local population has increased due to higher air humidity.

The resource-rich continent of Africa is showing signs of significant progress in materials science research and is harnessing a plethora of human and material resources to tackle a wide range of challenges.

European forest tree species experienced strong climatic fluctuations over Quaternary. In spite of these pronounced environmental changes, population genomic analyses reveal that major forest tree species managed to retain their evolutionary potential over the period.

SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in Kenya in March 2020 and there was evidence of local transmission in the following months. Here, the authors characterise the early stages of the epidemic in coastal Kenya using phylogenetics and find evidence of multiple strain importations from international points of entry.

AAV vectors that efficiently transduce the mouse brain after intravenous injection are generated with a CRE-dependent selection system.

Damaged erythrocytes accumulate in various pathological conditions, such as hemolytic anemia, anemia of inflammation, and sickle cell disease. In mice challenged with damaged erythorcytes, a monocyte subset migrates to the liver (but not to the spleen), and this subset differentiates into a transient macrophage population that removes the damaged erythrocytes, thus preventing organ damage.

Loechner et al. present an expert consensus on how to e-mental health, from the development to research and evaluation of e-mental health interventions, a useful guide with practical recommendations for researchers and practitioners wanting to explore the field of e-mental health.