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Simulation methods for light-matter interactions able to reproduce quantum phenomena are typically either too idealised or too computationally expensive, and cannot be easily interfaced with classical Maxwell solvers. Here, the authors propose and numerically test a modelling framework for light-matter interactions using stochastic differential equations, which can properly account for the dynamics of open quantum systems.

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.

While the photoreceptor outer segments in the bird outer retina have access to oxygen, the inner retina operates under chronic anoxia, supported by anaerobic glycolysis in the retinal neurons.

GLP-1–GIP–lanifibranor, a single-molecule agonist of GLP-1R, GIPR, PPARα, PPARγ and PPARδ, shows promising therapeutic efficacy against obesity-linked metabolic dysfunction in vitro and in mouse models via synergistic incretin and PPAR activity.

Gram-negative bacteria use diverse virulence factors to infect eukaryotic cells. Here, the authors perform structure-function analyses on the S. negevensis deSUMOylase SnCE1 and provide mechanistic insights how lysine acetylation reprograms virulence adjusting it to the host cells’ metabolic state.

An autonomous robot system, Ace, combines event-based vision and reinforcement learning to compete with elite human table tennis players, highlighting the potential of physical AI agents to perform complex, real-time interactive tasks.

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT), a very rare and understudied sarcoma, presents serious challenges for both diagnosis and treatment. Here, the authors employ multi-omics profiling on 30 refractory DSRCT patients to improve the diagnosis and identify potentially actionable targets for individualized DSRCT treatment.

This case study reports human immunodeficiency virus remission without antiretroviral treatment in an individual who received an allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation from a sibling donor with a homozygous CCR5Δ32 mutation.

Plasma ctDNA testing for FGFR alterations in metastatic urothelial carcinoma shows high concordance with tissue testing and identifies additional patients with actionable alterations. Here, the authors show that clinical uptake of ctDNA FGFR testing can be combined with tissue-based approaches.

The depiction of crop exposure to heat stress is fundamental for reliably quantifying extreme-heat-induced yield loss and crop failure. Using more than 130,000 subnational yield records, this study estimated spatially explicit extreme degree day thresholds for maize and soybean across major Northern Hemisphere breadbaskets, revealing strong geographic heterogeneity.

Small cell lung cancer cells form functional synapses with glutamatergic neurons, receiving synaptic transmissions and deriving a proliferative advantage from these interactions.

Diamond colour centres are of interest for solid-state quantum technologies but obtaining an efficient spin-photon interface remains challenging. Here, the authors use resonant excitation under magnetic fields to optically access the electronic spin sublevels of silicon-vacancy centres in diamond.

TREM2 is an important AD risk factor playing essential roles in the microglial response to amyloid pathology. Here, authors show using a TREM2 reporter mouse that TREM2 levels are critical for efficacy of TREM2 agonism informing current clinical efforts.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses cause mass mortality in birds and have infected over 50 mammalian species, including humans. Here, the authors report the use of a propagation-defective vesicular stomatitis virus replicon vaccine in captive birds, which provides protection against lethal H5N1 challenge.

Regulatory DNA screens often lack nucleotide-level resolution. Here, authors present an end-to-end CRISPR base-editing and sequencing framework that maps regulatory variants at single-nucleotide resolution, revealing enhancer mutations that alter CD19 expression and enable CAR-T therapy resistance.

C-COMPASS is an open-source software designed to predict the spatial cellular distribution of proteins and lipids from cellular organelle profiling using a neural network-based regression model.

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.

Müller-Tidow and colleagues demonstrate that hotspot DNMT3A mutations found in clonal hematopoiesis and acute myeloid leukemia render cancer cells sensitive to the DNMT1 inhibitor azacitidine through focal DNA demethylation, viral mimicry and interferon activation.

Chemical systems with switchable molecular spins could allow the development of materials with controllable spintronic properties. Here, the authors show that nitric oxide coordination to cobalt(II)tetraphenylporphyrin on a nickel surface, followed by thermal dissociation, leads to off-on spin switching.

T-cell–mediated rejection (TCMR) remains a major cause of kidney transplant failure with incompletely understood mechanisms. Here the authors use single-nucleus RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics and immunofluorescence to show that injured kidney epithelial cell states associate with poor transplant outcomes after T-cell–mediated rejection.

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.

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.

Efficient lead optimization in drug discovery requires improving potency, synthetic accessibility, and physicochemical properties. Here, the authors utilize machine learning to screen large chemical spaces, demonstrating automated selection of optimized molecules to improve cycle times.

Natural products have historically made a major contribution to pharmacotherapy, but also present challenges for drug discovery, such as technical barriers to screening, isolation, characterization and optimization. This Review discusses recent technological developments — including improved analytical tools, genome mining and engineering strategies, and microbial culturing advances — that are enabling a revitalization of natural product-based drug discovery.

Direct interaction between the small GTPase Rab7a and the cation channel TPC2 has been reported but the functional regulation is less clear. Here, the authors show that Rab7a enhances the activity of TPC2 to promote melanoma progression through the GSK3β/β-Catenin/MITF axis.

Global research prioritization for peatland science engaged 467 participants from 54 countries, identifying 50 priority research questions across carbon dynamics, climate impacts, restoration and management, technological innovation, and community and policy engagement.

This research identifies two neural factors linked to externalizing and internalizing symptoms through a longitudinal imaging-genetic cohort. Distinct neural configurations and cognitive-behavioral relevance highlight the need for tailored therapeutic strategies addressing psychiatric comorbidity across developmental stages.

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.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hold great potential for modelling human developmental processes and diseases. Here the authors induce human iPSCs to spontaneously form fully laminated three-dimensional retinal tissue containing functional photoreceptor cells.

Genomic analyses applied to 14 childhood- and adult-onset psychiatric disorders identifies five underlying genomic factors that explain the majority of the genetic variance of the individual disorders.

A fault-tolerant, universal set of single- and two-qubit quantum gates is demonstrated between two instances of the seven-qubit colour code in a trapped-ion quantum computer.

The experimental investigation of relaxation times in graphene quantum dots has long been hindered by the limited tunability of these devices. Here Volk et. al.employ a device design to study this problem and report charge relaxation times of around 60–100 ns.

Forests are essential for both climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation, yet how to balance these goals in managed forests remains unclear. Here, using a Europe-wide dataset, the authors find that biodiversity increases with carbon stocks, but mostly when deadwood is included.

Müller-Tidow and colleagues perform a randomized clinical trial and show that administration of convalescent plasma improves COVID-19 outcome in patients with cancer who are unable to generate an adequate immune response.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet responded to different natural forcing mechanisms than the East Antarctic Ice Sheet through the mid-Pliocene due to a greater sensitivity to oceanic feedbacks, according to iceberg-rafted debris records and ice-sheet modelling experiments.

Expression of TMPRSS2—a protease that activates SARS-CoV-2 for entry into cells—renders SARS-CoV-2 insensitive to chloroquine.

Integrating complex multi-omics data for individual patient decision making can be challenging. Here, the authors develop Knowledge Connector as a decision support system to generate and document Molecular Tumor Board recommendations and support medical decision-making.

Climate change affects agricultural productivity. New systematic global agricultural yield projections of the major crops were conducted using ensembles of the latest generation of crop and climate models. Substantial shifts in global crop productivity due to climate change will occur within the next 20 years—several decades sooner than previous projections—highlighting the need for targeted food system adaptation and risk management in the coming decades.

Examining drivers of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient in a global database of local tree species richness, the authors show that co-limitation by multiple environmental and anthropogenic factors causes steeper increases in richness with latitude in tropical versus temperate and boreal zones.

A cross-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci, reveals putative causal genes, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as potential drug targets, and provides cross-ancestry integrative risk prediction.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), which can be driven by obesity and hypertension, has a high prevalence but limited treatment options. Here, the authors show that nitro-oleic acid restores mitochondrial function and improves heart failure symptoms in a mouse model of HFpEF.

Genome-wide association meta-analyses of waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index in more than 224,000 individuals identify 49 loci, 33 of which are new and many showing significant sexual dimorphism with a stronger effect in women; pathway analyses implicate adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution.

Karposi’s Sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) infection is associated with malignancy in older infected humans. Here the authors characterise antigen presentation using a KSHV-specific CD4⁺ T cell-derived TCR in a mouse model and show that although KSHV-specific CD4⁺ T cells are difficult to detect in humans, antigen presentation is effective in vivo suggesting persistence and accumulation of these cells through antigen recognition.