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Activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) was used to identify and optimize bioactive, selective pharmacological enzyme activators of the serine hydrolase LYPLAL1, which improved the metabolic defects of diet-induced obese mice.

There is ongoing debate about the effective combination of strategies for COIVD-19 control. Here, the authors use an agent-based model to quantify and compare several intervention strategies, and identify minimal levels of social distancing compliance required to control the epidemic in Australia.

Soil microbial communities remain active throughout much of the Arctic winter, and Arctic winters are warming dramatically. Here, the authors show that persistently warm winter soils can lead to labile carbon starvation and reduced microbial respiration, despite the high carbon content of most Arctic soils.

The JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey using NIRCam to find the earliest galaxies reveals the size and star formation rates of four extreme redshift (z > 10) galaxies of the distant Universe.

In molecular junctions, where a molecule is placed between two electrodes, the current passed decays exponentially as a function of length. Here, Chen et al. show that this exponentially attenuation can be controlled by changing a single atom at the end of the molecular wire.

Fluorescent protein reporters based on GFP exist, but have intrinsic disadvantages. Here the authors incorporate pH, Ca²⁺ and protein–protein interaction sensing modalities into de novo designed mini-fluorescence-activating proteins (mFAPs), with increased photostability and smaller size, which bind a range of DFHBI chromophore variants.

Traumatic brain injury is associated with changes to the metabolome. Here the authors show that acute traumatic brain injury has distinctive serum metabolic patterns which may suggest protective changes of systemic lipid metabolism aiming to maintain lipid homeostasis in the brain.

Warmer spring temperatures affect the timing of stem diameter growth of temperate deciduous trees but have little effect on annual growth.

Alternative splicing expands the genetic coding capacity and proteomic diversity of the cell. Here the authors create a synthetic biology platform for regulating four programmable exons in modular transcription factors.

The genetic changes that occur in late stage metastatic melanoma are not well delineated. Here, the authors use rapid autopsy samples from metastatic melanoma patients and show that the late stage in the disease is characterised by whole genome doubling and aneuploidy.

Analysis of 100 consecutive personalized bacteriophage therapy cases supports the use of personalized and sometimes pre-adapted, bacteriophage preparations, often in combination with antibiotics.

To increase the range and precision of genetic interaction studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a collection of hypomorphic alleles of essential yeast genes and a highly sensitive flow cytometry–based growth competition assay are presented. Also in this issue, Yan et al. present a similar strain collection, tagged with unique bar-code identifiers, and use this collection in pooled chemical genetic screens.

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider reports a search for charged-lepton-flavour violation in decays of Z bosons into a τ lepton and an electron or muon of opposite charge.

Enzymes involved in copper metabolism and residing within bacterial outer layers are used to polymerize monomers bound to the bacterial cell surface. The composition of the polymers is affected by templating processes and hence the polymers are specific binding agents for the bacteria on which they are grown.

The self-assembly of short amphiphilic α-helicomimetic foldamers bearing proteinaceous side-chains can be controlled by manipulating the side-chain sequence. This enables the foldamers to be programmed to form either discrete helical bundles containing isolated cavities, or pH-responsive water-filled channels with controllable pore diameters.

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

The ability to produce homogeneous glycoproteins is expected to advance fundamental understanding in glycoscience, but current in vivo-based production systems have several limitations. Here, the authors develop an E. coli extract-based one-pot system for customized production of N-linked glycoproteins.

Brightness changes of the Sun over timescales from minutes to decades, relevant to Earth’s climate and the detection of exoplanets around Sun-like stars, can be fully and precisely explained by the magnetic field and granulation of the Sun’s surface.

Despite the importance of small RNA–mediated silencing, no structural information exists for complexes of known function. Using single-particle EM, the structure of the minimal functional unit for RNAi in humans (AGO2, Dicer and TRBP) is now presented.

A new approach is used to target BET family bromodomains which are found in transcriptional regulators where they mediate the recognition of acetyl-lysine chromatin marks. Structural data reveal how the compound JQ1 binds to the bromodomain of BRD4. BRD4 has been implicated in a subtype of human squamous carcinomas, and JQ1 is found to inhibit the growth of BRD4 dependent tumours in mouse models.

Catalytic mechanisms of enzymes are well understood, but achieving diverse reaction chemistries in re-engineered proteins can be difficult. Here the authors show a highly efficient and thermostable artificial enzyme that catalyzes a diverse array of substrate oxidations coupled to the reduction of H₂O₂.

Midbrain dopamine neurons have been implicated in two related but distinct processes: reward learning and action generation. By combining an operant learning task in mice with recordings from projection-defined dopamine neurons, the authors found that dopamine neurons targeting different parts of the striatum carry different information about rewards and chosen actions.

Cryo-EM maps of different clathrin cage architectures and accompanying analyses lead to a consensus model of the clathrin triskelion hub, suggesting a universal assembly mode that still allows adaptation to various vesicle sizes and shapes.

Gas bubbles forming on the surface of an electrode, a phenomenon common to several industrial electrolytic processes, are usually perceived as inert, passivating entities. Here, the authors show that that this general assumption does not hold for gas bubbles masking anodes operating in water.

Building crystal structures into the electron density is an important step in protein structure solution. Here, the authors recruit online game players, students, and experienced crystallographers to compete in a competition to solve a new structure, and find that crowdsourcing model-building works.

Native oyster reef ecosystems were decimated by human activities, with little known of their past extent. This study evaluates historical records to show that oyster reefs were once a dominant feature of European coastlines and provides perspectives for current management strategies.

Tuning the selectivity for [2+2] photocycloadditions remains challenging. Now, triplet–triplet energy transfer from CdSe quantum dots enables the homo- and heterocouplings of 4-vinylbenzoic acid derivatives via [2+2] photocycloaddition. Preorganization of substrates on the quantum dots reverses intrinsic stereoelectronic preferences to yield cyclobutane products with unprecedented diastereo- and regioselectivity.

Plate-lattices are predicted to reach the upper bounds of strength and stiffness compared to traditional beam-lattices, but they are difficult to manufacture. Here, the authors use two-photon polymerization 3D-printing and pyrolysis to make carbon plate-nanolattices which reach those theoretical bounds, making them up to 639% stronger than beam-nanolattices.

Soil organism biodiversity contributes to ecosystem function, but biodiversity and function have not been equivalently studied across the globe. Here the authors identify locations, environment types, and taxonomic groups for which there is currently a lack of biodiversity and ecosystem function data in the existing literature.

It is known that intermolecular interactions impact electron transfer rates, but the mechanisms involved are challenging to define experimentally. Here, the authors have developed a platform that enables atomic orbital resolution of electron transfer through an explicit intermolecular interaction.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study here shows novel genetic loci to be associated to body fat percentage, and describes cross-phenotype association that further demonstrate a close relationship between adiposity and cardiovascular disease risk.

Many RNA viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm express proteins that localize to nucleoli, but the nucleolar functions remain largely unknown. Here, the authors show that the Henipavirus matrix protein mimics an endogenous Treacle partner of the DNA-damage response, resulting in suppression of rRNA biogenesis.

Systems biologist who described gene regulatory networks.

Social-media impact, university rankings and online-aggregator metrics are broken — better ways to assess researchers are needed.

An (ultraviolet) dust attenuation feature at 2,175 Å, attributed to carbonaceous dust grains in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, also exists in galaxies up to a redshift of 7.

Measurements with a lateral spin pumping device architecture suggest that long spin diffusion lengths of more than 1 μm are possible in conjugated polymer systems that have a sufficiently high spin density.

The climatic impact of ancient carbon released during the thawing of Arctic permafrost depends on the degree to which it is degraded. Here, the authors show that permafrost-sourced carbon is preferentially metabolized by microbial communities during transit in high-latitude rivers.

The impact of prior infection on the immune response to COVID-19 vaccination has not been fully characterised. Here, the authors use data from ~100,000 adults in the UK and find that a single vaccine dose in those with prior infection produces a comparable or stronger response to two doses in those without infection.

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.

Bis(β-diketiminato)dimagnesium(I) complexes are low-valent reagents that can each deliver two electrons in a selective and stoichiometric manner. Easily handled and dissolved, these species effect reduction of many inorganic and unsaturated organic substrates. This Perspective covers the development of magnesium(I) dimers and the scope of their reactivity.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is an indolent disease, and many patients succumb to infection rather than the direct effects of the disease. Here, the authors use medical records and machine learning to predict the patients that may be at risk of infection, which may enable a change in the course of their treatment.