Search

Using well-calibrated statistical methods the authors jointly analyze Undiagnosed Diseases Network genomes, identifying known and novel disease genes. Software is publicly available to support future cross-cohort rare disease discovery efforts.

The MICrONS mouse visual cortex dataset shows that neurons with similar response properties preferentially connect, a pattern that emerges within and across brain areas and layers, and independently emerges in artificial neural networks where these ‘like-to-like’ connections prove important for task performance.

This study maps the connections of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the mouse cortex, revealing distinct local and intercortical wiring patterns, and provides an open framework for exploring the connectivity of cell types.

A PICALM allele associated with increased risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease has a microglial-specific role in lipid droplet accumulation.

Neural Decomposition (NEURD) is a software package that decomposes neuronal data from high-resolution electron microscopy volumes into feature-rich graph representations to facilitate analysis for neuroscience research.

Melting experiments with planetary materials show that oxidized core formation occurred via percolation of molten sulfide at low igneous temperatures.

Targeted accurate RNA consensus sequencing enables study of de novo errors caused by RNA-dependent RNA polymerases and provides deeper insights into how SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity emerges.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, Pattaro et al. conduct a meta-analysis to discover several new loci associated with variation in eGFR and find that genes associated with eGFR loci often encode proteins potentially related to kidney development.

In advancing the design of electronic devices, the dielectric tunability of barium strontium titanate is enhanced by an order of magnitude relative to the previously reported values through the manipulation of polar domain characteristics.

Dense calcium imaging combined with co-registered high-resolution electron microscopy reconstruction of the brain of the same mouse provide a functional connectomics map of tens of thousands of neurons of a region of the primary cortex and higher visual areas.

Patricia Munroe, Christopher Newton-Cheh, Andrew Morris and colleagues perform association studies in over 340,000 individuals of European ancestry and identify 66 loci, of which 17 are novel, involved in blood pressure regulation. The risk SNPs are enriched for cis-regulatory elements, particularly in vascular endothelial cells.

Adoro and colleagues report the involvement of the IRE1α–XBP1 signaling axis in protecting hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from proteomic stress and as a safeguard against leukemic transformation.

Chordoma is a rare often incurable malignant bone tumour. Here, the authors investigate driver mutations of sporadic chordoma in 104 cases, revealing duplications in notochordal transcription factor brachyury (T), PI3K signalling mutations, and mutations in LYST, a potential novel cancer gene in chordoma.

Tracheal tuft cells have been shown to facilitate the recruitment of immune cells during infection of the airways. Here the authors show that P. aeruginosa lung infection in mice activates tuft cells to release ATP which subsequently activates DC and promotes IL-17A secreting T cells.

Excitatory neurons in the neocortex exhibit considerable morphological diversity, yet their organizational principles remain a subject of ongoing research. Here, the authors use unsupervised learning to show that most excitatory neuron morphologies in the mouse visual cortex form a continuum, with notable exceptions in deeper layers.

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.

The paper describes a Genome in a Bottle benchmark for the X and Y chromosomes enabled by complete chromosome assemblies. This benchmark enables users to evaluate small variant accuracy in challenging repetitive regions of the sex chromosomes.

Huda Zoghbi and colleagues report that loss of the ATXN1–CIC protein complex in the developing mouse forebrain results in hyperactivity and defects in learning and memory. Loss of Cic in specific brain regions causes social interaction defects, and patients with de novo CIC mutations present signs of hyperactivity, autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability.

The enzyme argininosuccinate lyase (ASL) generates the amino acid arginine, the precursor to both urea and nitric oxide. However, arginine supplementation is not sufficient to correct all of the symptoms of individuals with a congenital deficiency of this enzyme. Ayelet Erez et al. explain this paradox by showing that ASL has a role in nitric oxide synthesis that is independent of its catalytic activity and provide evidence that therapy with agents boosting nitric oxide levels might be beneficial in ASL-deficient individuals.

Timothy Frayling, Joel Hirschhorn, Peter Visscher and colleagues report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for adult height in 253,288 individuals. They identify 697 variants in 423 loci significantly associated with adult height and find that these variants cluster in pathways involved in growth and together explain one-fifth of the heritability for this trait.

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).

Heterogeneity in leiomyosarcomas (LMS) makes treatment of the disease challenging. Here the authors analyze LMS heterogeneity and molecular LMS subtypes using genomics and transcriptomics, finding origins in distinct lineages and associations with survival, in addition to the early emergence of metastatic clones.

John Perry and colleagues report the results of a large genome-wide association study meta-analysis to identify variants influencing age at natural menopause. They identify 54 independent signals and find enrichment near genes involved in delayed puberty and DNA damage response.

Artificial reefs provide important ecosystem services in marine environments. Accurate knowledge of the area covered by such reefs can help evaluate benefits and risks of such structures. This study describes the physical footprint of artificial reefs deployed in coastal waters of the United States.

A dataset of coding variation, derived from exome sequencing of nearly one million individuals from a range of ancestries, provides insight into rare variants and could accelerate the discovery of disease-associated genes and advance precision medicine efforts.

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.

Pooled and sex-specific genome-wide association analyses identify new risk loci for restless legs syndrome and candidates for drug repurposing. Machine learning models combining genetic and other information show improved risk prediction performance.

Nature explores the most-cited research of all time.

In this Review, the authors describe the mechanisms that mediate mitochondrial sheath formation and its maintenance and function within the mature sperm. They also provide the field with a strong and up-to-date background on current data and hypotheses.

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is powerful for studying human G protein-coupled receptors as they can be coupled to its mating pathway. Here the authors engineer baker’s yeast to produce human sterols and show that vertebrate G protein coupled receptors are more sensitive in this membrane environment.

Opportunities abound for those who wish to make scientific research their career, if a nomadic lifestyle and short-term positions are acceptable. Advice abounds, particularly on the Internet. Nature's global review begins with the biggest postdoc jungle of them all.

Statins are effectively used to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease, but patient response to these drugs is highly variable. Here, the authors identify two new genes associated with the response of LDL cholesterol to statins and advance our understanding of the genetic basis of drug response.

Here, the authors observe that in thin films of antiferroelectric PbZrO₃, substrate clamping enhances the electromechanical response, with expansion purely in the out-of-plane direction, achieving 1.7% strain for 100-nm-thick films.

Results for the final phase of the 1000 Genomes Project are presented including whole-genome sequencing, targeted exome sequencing, and genotyping on high-density SNP arrays for 2,504 individuals across 26 populations, providing a global reference data set to support biomedical genetics.

This report from the 1000 Genomes Project describes the genomes of 1,092 individuals from 14 human populations, providing a resource for common and low-frequency variant analysis in individuals from diverse populations; hundreds of rare non-coding variants at conserved sites, such as motif-disrupting changes in transcription-factor-binding sites, can be found in each individual.

Analysis of ancient human DNA from the Swahili coast reveals that predominantly African female ancestors and Asian male ancestors formed families after around ad 1000 and lived in elite communities in coastal stone towns.

Paul Elliott, Martin Tobin, Cornelia van Duijn and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure, identifying six new loci influencing these two traits.

1000 Genomes imputation can increase the power of genome-wide association studies to detect genetic variants associated with human traits and diseases. Here, the authors develop a method to integrate and analyse low-coverage sequence data and SNP array data, and show that it improves imputation performance.

A consortium reports the tripling of the number of genetic markers in Phase II of the International HapMap Project. This map of human genetic variation will continue to revolutionize discovery of susceptibility loci in common genetic diseases, and study of genes under selection in humans.

Leveraging independent gains and losses of eusociality, the authors identify complementary signatures of selection in sweat bee genomes, including two proteins that bind and transport juvenile hormone.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have become a key tool to discover genetic markers for complex traits; however, environmental factors that interact with genes are rarely considered. Here, the authors conduct a GWAS of obesity traits, and find that smoking may alter genetic susceptibilities.

Control of osteocyte differentiation is not well understood. Here the authors show that the miR-23 cluster represses the TGF-β signalling repressor Prdm16 in osteoblasts, thus enhancing osteocyte differentiation and a low bone mass phenotype.

Abnormal PR interval duration is associated with risk for atrial fibrillation and heart block. Here, van Setten et al. identify 44 PR interval loci in a genome-wide association study of over 92,000 individuals and find genetic overlap with QRS duration, heart rate and atrial fibrillation.