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The population history of Europe is complex and its very north has not yet been comprehensively studied at a genetic level. Here, Mittnik et al. report genome-wide data from 38 ancient individuals from the Eastern Baltic, Russia and Scandinavia to analyse gene flow throughout the Mesolithic and Bronze Age.

Ancient DNA from the eastern Maghreb (Tunisia and Algeria) dating between 15,000 and 6,000 years ago shows that this region was far less affected by external gene flow than the rest of the Neolithic Mediterranean, including not only Europe but also the western Maghreb (Morocco).

Natural products populate areas of chemical space not occupied by average synthetic molecules. Here, an analysis of more than 180,000 natural product structures results in a library of 2,000 natural-product-derived fragments, which resemble the properties of the natural products themselves and give access to novel inhibitor chemotypes.

Analyses of imputed ancient genomes and of samples from the UK Biobank indicate that ancient selection and migration were large contributors to the distribution of phenotypic diversity in present-day Europeans.

Here, the authors show that the skin microbiome of a remote hunter-gatherer Yanomami community harbors environmental microbes that help maintain skin barrier integrity and combat oxidative stress—functions that are reduced by industrial lifestyles.

Despite extensive structural studies elucidating how antigens are anchored to antigen-presenting molecules and presented to T cells, little is known about the display mechanism of the lipid-antigen-presenting molecule CD1c. Here, by combining structural immunology, lipidomics, and biophysical analysis, the authors reveal that the CD1c binding cleft accommodates two different lipids, one of them with a bulky headgroup positioned sideways for display to T cells, rather than upwards, different from the conventional upright antigen-presentation mode

Here the authors show that gut metagenomes of Indigenous Australian infants living remotely, display greater diversity and abundance of bacteria, viruses and fungi, compared to non-Indigenous infants living in urban Australia, suggesting that while having access to Western foods, the infants start life with a gut microbiome that retains key features of pre-industrialized societies.

This study projects the private costs and monetized climate and health damages of electrifying long-haul heavy-duty diesel trucks. Battery electric trucks yield net positive societal benefits by 2035, contingent on policies that accelerate adoption.

Here, based on phylogeny analyses using sequences from six viral genome databases, the authors study the biodiversity and evolution of a new bacteriophage lineage, Candidatus order Heliusvirales, and identify heliusviruses in 82% of 5,441 individuals across 39 studies, and in nine metagenomes from humans that lived in Europe and North America between 1,000 and 5,000 years ago, revealing associations with human diseases.

Formal education systems rarely include the knowledge and skills of hunter-gatherer societies. This can lead to cultural erosion and knowledge decline. For education to be both high quality and sustainable, Indigenous knowledge should be recognized and valued.

The impact of structural variation on the evolution of the amylase genes is explored using human pangenome resources and ancient DNA data.

High-coverage and low-coverage genomic data for some of the earliest modern humans in Europe provide insights into recent admixture with Neanderthals and familial relationship links with distant communities approximately 45,000 years ago.

Analysis of DNA from ancient individuals of the Near East documents the extreme substructure among the populations which transitioned to farming, a structure that was maintained throughout the transition from hunter–gatherer to farmer but that broke down over the next five thousand years.

Oakhurst rockshelter in South Africa documents marked cultural change during the Holocene, but genome-wide data from ancient human individuals at the site now demonstrate a remarkable degree of genetic continuity over the last 9,000 years: the contemporary ‡Khomani San and Karretjiemense from South Africa still show direct signs of relatedness to the Oakhurst hunter-gatherers.

Vassy, Dornisch and colleagues developed a genomics-based prostate cancer risk model to support a randomized clinical trial of precision screening in a national healthcare system.

Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic genomes from western Europe and the Caucasus reveal a previously undescribed strand of Eurasian ancestry with a deep divergence from other hunter-gatherer genomes. This had a profound impact on ancient and modern populations from the Atlantic to Central Asia.

The authors report genome-wide data from 34 ancient individuals spanning the Holocene, from what is now Brazil, illuminating connections and disjoints between Sambaqui shellmound societies and preceding and later peoples.

Sequences of 137 ancient and 502 modern human genomes illuminate the population history of the Eurasian steppes after the Bronze Age and document the replacement of Indo-European speakers of West Eurasian ancestry by Turkic-speaking groups of East Asian ancestry.

The viscosity of tumour cells is shown to govern their ability to disseminate through the bloodstream and extravasate, establishing a key biomechanical factor of metastasis.

The Scythian culture was widespread throughout the Eurasian Steppe during the 1^stmillennium BCE. This study provides genetic evidence for two independent origins for the Scythians in the eastern and western steppe with varying proportions of Yamnaya and East Asian ancestry, and gene flow among them.

Evan Eichler and colleagues explore the structural diversity and ancestral origins of the 17q21.31 inversion region. They find that complex duplication architectures have arisen independently on both inversion haplotypes and have recently reached high frequencies among Europeans, either through extraordinary genetic drift or selective sweeps.

The authors present the genome sequence of a >45,000-year-old female Homo sapiens individual from the site of Zlatý kůň, Czechia. Although radiometric dating of the human remains was inconclusive, the authors were able to use molecular methods to demonstrate that she was probably among the earliest Eurasian inhabitants following expansion out of Africa.

Deep Maniot Greeks preserve Y-DNA and mtDNA from Bronze-to-Roman Age Greece, largely untouched by later migrations. Genetics reveal historical demography, settlement patterns in southern Greece, and the emergence of their unique clan system

A previously unsampled deep lineage in central Argentina was discovered that had distinctive genetic drift by 8,500 bp and persisted as the main Native American ancestry component in the region up to the present day.

Regrowth of lost enamel in tooth decay and sensitivity is a major obstacle to overcome. Here, the authors report on a protein-based material that mimics features of natural enamel formation, allowing for epitaxial growth of apatite nanocrystals to restore enamel structure and function.

Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age dairy pastoralists in Mongolia are associated with diverse mortuary practices. Here, the authors analyze aDNA from 30 individuals and identify two genetic groups associated with distinct mortuary traditions that seem to have mixed rarely, pointing to complexities in these pastoralist societies.

The textile industry’s reliance on synthetic dyes is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions. Here the authors describe a process involving sustainable solvents that allows the extraction, purification, and reuse of dyes, as well as the recycling of dye-free fabrics.

Hunter-gatherer populations in Africa preserve unique information about human history, but genetic sub-structures of these populations remain unclear. Using newly designed microarray and statistical methods, these authors analyse genetic compositions of southern African populations and reveal an ancient link between southern and eastern Africa.

Gelabert et al. examine genomic and archaeological data from Europe’s earliest farming communities in Central Europe (5500–5000 bce). They find differentiated genetic networks but no evidence of unequal access to resources linked to sex or kin.

Sequencing of 144 ancient genomes from Shimao city and its satellites presents pedigrees among tomb owners spanning up to four generations showing predominantly patrilineal descent structure across Shimao communities, and possibly sex-specific sacrificial rituals.

Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing techniques have enabled the analysis of ancient human genomes. Here the authors sequence ancient human genomes that span a period of 5,000 years, to understand the ancestral influence on Europe's genetic landscape.

Genome-wide data from 400 individuals indicate that the initial spread of the Beaker archaeological complex between Iberia and central Europe was propelled by cultural diffusion, but that its spread into Britain involved a large-scale migration that permanently replaced about ninety per cent of the ancestry in the previously resident population.

A sequencing study comparing ancient and contemporary genomes reveals that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, ancient north Eurasians (related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians) and early European farmers of mainly Near Eastern origin.

An analysis involving the shotgun sequencing of more than 300 ancient genomes from Eurasia reveals a deep east–west genetic divide from the Black Sea to the Baltic, and provides insight into the distinct effects of the Neolithic transition on either side of this boundary.

An age-structured population model shows that purifying selection is the norm in humans for alleles that increase susceptibility to many late-onset diseases, and that sociocultural factors need to be taken into account to understand apparent neutrality.

Battiston et al. discuss the emerging paradigm of higher-order network science and its applications to social systems and human dynamics.

Rare loss-of-function mutations in SETD1A are associated with schizophrenia, but how SETD1A haploinsufficiency leads to disease phenotypes remains unknown. Here, authors show that SETD1A regulates genes at common schizophrenia risk loci regulating genomic stability and synaptic function.

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.

High-resolution time differences between six Middle Palaeolithic hearths from El Salt Unit x (Spain) obtained through archaeomagnetic and archaeostratigraphic analyses show sometimes decade-long intervals between hearths.

Analysis of a large ancient genome dataset shows that genetic risk for multiple sclerosis rose in steppe pastoralists, providing insight into how genetic ancestry from the Neolithic and Bronze Age has shaped modern immune responses.