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Global Burden of Disease estimates show that between 1990 and 2023, the prevalence and burden of drug use disorders, inclusive of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use, have been increasing in high-income countries, particularly in the USA.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic highlighted our need for methods that allow rapid viral surveillance. Here, authors report a wireless, battery-free and wearable self-diagnosis platform that can continuously capture viral particles, diagnose infection status and evaluate symptom severity via breath and blow.

In this Stage 2 Registered Report, Buchanan et al. show evidence confirming the phenomenon of semantic priming across speakers of 19 diverse languages.

The carrier envelope offset phase (CEP) of a short laser pulse is tuned to control electrons on attosecond timescales, while rotational states are associated with much longer nanosecond timescales. Here, the authors introduce CEP control in rotational air lasing, unveiling nontrivial contribution from rotational states.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

Ultralow-power ferroelectric field-effect transistors are used to achieve low-power NAND flash memory, overcoming the trade-off between multi-level capability and power efficiency and paving the way for next-generation storage memory.

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.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

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.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

CT scans are routinely used to diagnose pneumoperitoneum. Here the authors present a deep learning model for detecting pneumoperitoneum in abdominal CT scans, validated on datasets from Taiwan and the US, showing high accuracy and potential to accelerate diagnosis and treatment in emergency care.

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.

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.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

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.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

New two-dimensional semiconductors may exhibit properties beyond inherent semiconducting attributes. Here the authors report protonated semiconducting III–V-derived van der Waals crystals with memristive properties.

Pixel size in imaging and displays is limited by fundamental constraints that compromise performance at wavelength scales. Here the authors present subwavelength color pixel sensors based on anti-Hermitian metasurfaces relying on structural color for increased performance.

Female water striders have evolved a strategy to control the frequency of copulation. In this article, male water striders are shown to attract predators during copulation to coerce the female into yielding more quickly. These findings demonstrate how adaptive behaviour may be influenced by predation.

Here, the authors show that reduced transport of UDP-GlcNAc to the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi leads to increased cytosolic UDP-GlcNAc and O-GlcNAcylation in chondrocytes. This, in turn, stabilizes the transcription factor GATA4, promoting the senescence-associated secretory phenotype and exacerbating osteoarthritis.

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.

Paul Pharoah and colleagues report the results of a large genome-wide association study of ovarian cancer. They identify new susceptibility loci for different epithelial ovarian cancer histotypes and use integrated analyses of genes and regulatory features at each locus to predict candidate susceptibility genes, including OBFC1.

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.

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.

The outflow pathway of cerebrospinal fluid into lymph nodes in the neck and how non-invasive mechanical stimulation can enhance drainage and restore impaired outflow in aged mice are explored.

As Nature Chemical Biology approaches its third decade we asked a collection of chemical biologists, “What do you think are the most exciting frontiers or the most needed developments in your main field of research?” — here is what they said.

The Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia updates its consensus on sarcopenia, highlighting the need to extend diagnosis to middle-aged adults and use the World Health Organization’s Integrated Care for Older People to promote muscle health. Multimodal interventions involving exercise and nutrition are recommended to prevent age-related decline in Asian populations.

Analysis of genomic and transcriptomic data from 462 patient-derived tumor cell (PDC) samples across 14 cancer types, along with pharmacological responses to 60 agents, indicates that PDC-derived drug sensitivities might be predictive of clinical response to targeted therapies.

Different types of metabolic rewiring are reported to drive cancer development and as a potential therapeutic target. Here, the authors perform multi-omics analyses in a cohort of human normal and malignant thyroid samples and show association of mitochondrial one-carbon metabolism with undifferentiated thyroid cancer.