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Modulation of random heteropolymers results in globular polymer clusters with catalytic activity mimicking proteins.

Samples returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission contain N-rich organics with prebiotic implications. This material probably formed in the earliest stages of the asteroid’s history possibly even before its water ice melted.

This protocol extension enables researchers to integrate optically based manipulation and measurement techniques into their touchscreen experimental systems, focusing on optogenetic manipulation, fiber photometry and microendoscopic imaging.

The Argyle deposit erupted 1.3 billion years ago into an ancient rift at the edge of a craton. Argyle coincided with supercontinent breakup, highlighting the link between diamond emplacement, former rifts and continental breakup.

A capillary flow printing technique can be used to fabricate printed carbon nanotube thin-film transistors with submicrometre channel lengths on rigid or flexible substrates.

Tissue chips with matured human heart, liver, bone and skin tissue niches linked by recirculating vascular flow recapitulate interdependent functions of these organs.

The mini-mScope is a miniature microscope that can image neural activity at the mesoscale in most of the dorsal cortex of freely behaving mice.

Genome-wide analysis in individuals of African ancestry identifies a nonsense variant in CD36 associated with increased risk of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), partly accounting for the higher incidence of DCM in African-ancestry populations.

This protocol describes how to construct and use an open-source robot for automatically performing cranial microsurgeries such as skull thinning and various-sized craniotomies in mice.

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are prodrugs that are activated by protonation in the highly acidic environment of the stomach lining. Now, coordination of PPIs to protein-bound zinc ions is revealed as another pathway to PPI activation. Acting as a Lewis acid, the zinc ion facilitates conjugation of the drug to zinc-coordinating cysteine residues.

Whether and how highly penetrant NDD (neurodevelopmental disorder) genes such as Syngap1 regulate sensorimotor integration are not fully understood. This study shows that Syngap1 expression in cortical projection neurons promotes cognitive abilities in mice through forming distributed networks that integrate sensory information with motor signals, a dynamic process required for perception and attention.

Neural activity is regulated by synapse-neuromodulator interactions, necessitating optoelectro-pharmacological investigations. Here, authors implement their multi-modal probe to show focal infusion of synthetic cannabinoid disrupts CA1 oscillations.

Sepsis may promptly develop into lethal organ failure, so early diagnosis and treatment planning are essential. Here the authors use machine learning to develop a six-gene signature, termed Sepset, for initial diagnosis, and integrate Sepset into a microfluidic-based bench-side platform for predicting the prognosis of suspected sepsis suitable for the clinic.

Combining NMR spectroscopy-derived pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) with Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill (CPMG) relaxation dispersion enables protein structure determination of lowly populated high-energy states that are essential for macromolecular function.

Despite many advantages of vat photopolymerization in microfluidic device fabrication, well-controlled μm-sized (< 100 μm) channels in the layer building direction remains a challenge. Here, authors present a general high resolution and low-cost 3D printing process that can produce devices within the 10 μm scale.

A COVID-19 test implemented in an automated microfluidic device and leveraging isothermal RNA amplification followed by T7 transcription and Cas13-mediated cleavage of a quenched fluorophore rapidly detects SARS-CoV-2 RNA in saliva samples.

A machine-learning model trained on interactions between oral drugs and intestinal drug transporters obtained by modulating their expression in intact porcine tissue can be used to predict drug–transporter and drug–drug interactions.

A singlet-triplet spin qubit using holes in a Ge quantum well is demonstrated, and can be operated at low magnetic fields of a few millitesla.

Post-translational site-selective formation of boronoalanine in proteins enables applications of boron for binding partner capture, footprinting of interactions with reactive oxygen species, proteolytic control and mapping of transient structures.

Current wearable and implantable biosensors still face challenges to improve sensitivity, stability and scalability. Here the authors report inkjet-printable, mass-producible core–shell nanoparticle-based biosensors to monitor a broad range of biomarkers.

Hofer et al. show that fasting promotes the synthesis of spermidine, which stimulates eIF5A hypusination to induce autophagy and increase lifespan in various species in a conserved manner.

Here, a combined experiment-theory framework based on different nano-imaging techniques and first-principle calculations is used to analyse the shapes of moiré patterns in twisted van der Waals structures, enabling an accurate description of the coupling between the atomically thin layers.

Analysing camera-trap data of 163 mammal species before and after the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns, the authors show that responses to human activity are dependent on the degree to which the landscape is modified by humans, with carnivores being especially sensitive.

LaccID, an engineered laccase, enables hydrogen-peroxide-free proximity labeling and electron microscopy (EM) in mammalian cells. Notably, LaccID is selectively active at the cell surface, enabling the mapping of the dynamic T cell–tumor surfaceome and its use as a genetically encodable EM tag, expanding the toolkit for cell-based imaging and proteomics.

The relationship between striatal vascular and neural activity is not fully understood. Here the authors found neuronal activity inadequately explains striatal hemodynamic polarity, challenging classic fMRI interpretations.

A genome-wide association study including over 76,000 individuals with schizophrenia and over 243,000 control individuals identifies common variant associations at 287 genomic loci, and further fine-mapping analyses highlight the importance of genes involved in synaptic processes.

A robotically handled culture system using porcine gastrointestinal tissue explants for the high-throughput interrogation of the gastrointestinal tract predicts the absorption of oral drugs in the human gut better than Caco-2 Transwells.

We have limited knowledge of how aging affects brain vascular structure and function. Here, the authors show that aging induces selective reduction of vasculature and related cell types in key cognitive brain areas and reduces blood oxygenation.

Forests are sinks for the neurotoxic mercury, but the sinks have large uncertainties. Our direct gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) exchange measurements show that GEM exchange includes complex patterns of multiple pathways to different ecosystem compartments varying over time

Using multi-ancestry genome-wide association study and fine-mapping, 298 loci and 36 credible genes are identified in the aetiology of bipolar disorder.

This study used fine-mapping to analyze genetic regions associated with bipolar disorder, identifying specific risk genes and providing new insights into the biology of the condition that may guide future research and treatment approaches.

Whole-genome sequencing and phenotype data sharing are introduced in a national health system to streamline diagnosis and to discover coding and non-coding variants that cause rare diseases.

An NMR fragment screen identified a small molecule that binds to an allosteric site on the proapoptotic protein BAX and synergizes with the BIM BH3 domain to conformationally activate BAX and enhance BAX-mediated membrane poration.

A wearable electrochemical biosensor can continuously detect, in sweat during physical exercise and at rest, trace levels of multiple metabolites and nutrients, including all essential amino acids and vitamins.

The affected cellular populations during Alzheimer’s disease progression remain understudied. Here the authors use a cohort of 84 donors, quantitative neuropathology and multimodal datasets from the BRAIN Initiative. Their pseudoprogression analysis revealed two disease phases.

Spin-orbit coupling in gate-defined quantum dots in silicon metal-oxide semiconductors provides a promising route for electrical control of spin qubits. Here, the authors demonstrate that intervalley spin–orbit interaction enables fast singlet–triplet qubit rotations in this platform, at frequencies exceeding 200MHz.

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

Investigation of variation in three cohorts has identified multiple genetic signals associated with the pregnancy-specific liver disorder, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, giving insight into the disease which can cause preterm birth and stillbirth.

Functionalized InAs quantum dots emitting in the short-wavelength infrared spectral region enable functional biomedical imaging at unprecedentedly high spatial resolution, deep penetration and fast acquisition speeds.