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DNA2 suppresses recombination-restarted replication and checkpoint activation at stalled forks, and its loss triggers recombination-dependent synthesis, checkpoint signalling and cell-cycle exit, highlighting its essential role in proliferation and growth failure in primordial dwarfism.

Individual electrons trapped on the surface of solid neon can operate as charge qubits with very long coherence times.

The ability to resist compaction has widespread implications for reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technology. Here the authors present a class of thin-film crosslinked composite reverse osmosis membranes that resist physical compaction at ultrahigh pressures.

Eos is a newly discovered molecular cloud sitting just 94 pc from the Sun. It was detected through the far-UV emission of its molecular hydrogen, having been missed in conventional molecular gas surveys due to a low abundance of common gas tracers.

David Posner hopes that his teaching and outreach programmes could apply to other low- and middle-income countries.

Monoclonal antibodies and ligands targeting CD40 exhibit diverse agonistic and antitumor activities that are influenced by their design. Here, the authors identify mechanistic differences between clinically relevant anti-CD40 subclasses and CD40L, focusing on the dynamics and strengths of multi-bond formation at the single-molecule level.

Substituted bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes (BCHs) are emerging bicyclic hydrocarbon bioisosteres for ortho- and meta-substituted benzenes, but are difficult to access. Now a SmI₂-catalysed intermolecular coupling of bicyclo[1.1.0]butyl ketones and alkenes provides a general approach to access substituted BCHs, thus promoting their widespread use in medicinal chemistry and crop science.

Large perovskite nanocrystals are synthesized to increase the cryogenic exciton radiative rate. At liquid helium temperatures, single photons from perovskite nanocrystals coalesce at a beam splitter, signalling the existence of indistinguishable photon emission.

The development of materials for the effective removal of oils and solvents from water is of global importance. Here, the authors show that porous, hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets are capable of absorbing many times their own weight in oil while repelling water, and may be cleaned for reuse by heating or burning in air.

Transition metal trichalcogenides are layered materials with strong in-plane anisotropy, and their vibrational characteristics remain largely unexplored. Here, the authors present high-pressure Raman studies to uncover unusual vibrational effects within this specific class of materials.

α-tubulin acetylation is an evolutionarily conserved modification but despite its prevalence, the physiological function of this process remains poorly understood. Here, the authors show that α-tubulin acetylation regulates p38 kinase signalling and expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in macrophages.

Konturek-Ciesla et al show that low intensity conditioning with antibody mediated haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) depletion coupled to HSC transplantation boosts blood cell and immune cell generation in aging mice, slowing disease. This approach may help treat age-related blood disorders in humans.

Quantum spin Hall edge states are protected by time-reversal symmetry and are expected to disappear in a strong magnetic field. Here, the authors use microwave impedance microscopy and find, surprisingly, edge conduction in mercury telluride quantum wells that survives up to 9 T with little change.

Although quantum alternatives of various classical tasks are considered advantageous, this is typically extremely difficult to concretely prove. Here, the authors show that a quantum approach to randomness processing provides a reduction in resources and a larger class of solvable problems.

Manipulation of spins in the solid state is a promising avenue for quantum information and field sensing applications. Bennett et al. demonstrate voltage tunability of single-spin states in a quantum dot as a step towards universal control of a single spin with a single electrical gate.

Whileortho-selective C-H activation is well explored, general meta-selective methods are rare and often require directing groups that are retained in the final products. Here the authors show that transient imine groups can be used to direct the meta-functionalization of a range of arenes.

Stratified medicine promises to tailor treatment for individual patients, however it remains a major challenge to leverage genetic risk data to aid patient stratification. Here the authors introduce an approach to stratify individuals based on the aggregated impact of their genetic risk factor profiles on tissue-specific gene expression levels, and highlight its ability to identify biologically meaningful and clinically actionable patient subgroups, supporting the notion of different patient ‘biotypes’ characterized by partially distinct disease mechanisms.

While the STING-type-I interferon pathway plays a key role in anti-tumour immunity, current direct STING agonists have limited therapeutic benefit. Here, the authors identify ENPP1 as a safer and more effective STING-modulating target than direct STING agonism, and use an AI-based drug design platform to design the ENPP1-selective inhibitor ISM5939.

A compact source of 60-fs pulses is demonstrated, based on a semiconductor laser that is mode-locked using a saturable absorber mirror in an external cavity.

CO₂ electroreduction in acidic electrolytes avoids carbon loss but entails the issue of salt formation arising from the addition of metal cations, thereby limiting operational stability. Now copper is decorated with immobilized cationic ionomers, achieving stable CO₂ reduction towards multi-carbon products in metal cation-free acidic electrolytes.

Nematicity, the spontaneous breaking of lattice rotational symmetry, plays an important role in kagome metals. Here, the authors report on a nematic phase within seven Kelvin below the charge density wave transition in the bilayer kagome metal ScV₆Sn₆.

Light at low power densities can be used to manipulate ferromagnetic domains in the two-dimensional van der Waals ferromagnet Fe₃GeTe₂. This capability could be used to engineer the behaviour of Fe₃GeTe₂-based devices.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 provide protection against infection, but the virus has evolved to evade them. Here, the authors characterize a human antibody with incomplete neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants and engineer it to enhance potency and expand coverage to all tested variants by increasing conformational flexibility.

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.

Deep understanding of mechanisms of resistance to active therapies in metastatic colorectal cancer is crucial for developing more effective treatments. Here, the authors investigate the genomic landscape of 254 patients receiving anti-VEGF and anti-EGFR treatment, identify potential therapeutic vulnerabilities and suggest combination therapies.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study of blood lipid levels in roughly 1.6 million individuals demonstrates the gain of power attained when diverse ancestries are included to improve fine-mapping and polygenic score generation, with gains in locus discovery related to sample size.

The Middle Palaeolithic of southwest Asia witnessed interactions and knowledge sharing between archaic and modern humans ~130,000–80,000 years ago. These interactions led to increased behavioural complexity and consolidation of a uniform behavioural set across Homo groups in the region.

Preliminary clinical trials suggest that ibogaine and its active metabolite noribogaine have powerful anti-addictive properties, Now, a strategy for the scalable, asymmetric total synthesis of ibogaine has been developed that also provides access to iboga analogues. Biological testing identified a psychoplastogenic iboga analogue that is a potent modulator of the serotonin transporter.

Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) are the most common cancers in young men. Here, the authors analyse the genomic landscape of TGCT using data from the Genomics England 100,000 Genomes Project, revealing divergent evolutionary trajectories and the prevalence of human leukocyte antigen loss.

Understanding recent trends in agricultural productivity and climate can inform mitigation and adaptation strategies. Based on satellite imagery, this study shows that yields have stagnated in much of southern Africa despite moderate climate trends over the past 20 years.

A unidirectional light-extracting fluorescent film was designed for passive augmentation of photosynthesis and biomass production for leafy green lettuces grown indoors and in greenhouse facilities. The batch-processed films have a total light extraction efficiency of 89%, with a majority of the converted light directed towards lettuce crops. This film demonstrates application potential in greenhouses and other protected environments to increase crop production efficiency.

Yang and colleagues have previously reported a clinically guided culture method to generate allogeneic CAR-NKT cells by engineering human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. As potential application, here the authors describe the design and characterization of allogeneic CD33-targeting CAR-NKT cells, showing anti-tumor activity in preclinical models of bone marrow-resident myeloid malignancies.

Managing power exhaust in fusion reactors is a key challenge, especially in compact designs for cost-effective commercial energy. This study shows how alternative divertor configurations improve exhaust control, enhance stability, absorb transients and enable independent plasma regulation.

Stress exposure shapes survival mechanisms in bacteria. Here, the authors show that individual pneumococcal cells react to stress by competence self-induction, which may propagate to non-competent cells, promoting multilevel heterogeneity and favouring survival.

Ndeh et al. show that a genetic locus in the human gut bacterium, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, encodes a combination of glycosidases, a glycoprotease and a kinase enabling it to process and metabolise O-glycoproteins and the core mucin O-glycan sugar N-acetylgalactosamine.

Here the authors spatially map human pediatric low-grade gliomas using imaging mass cytometry, focusing on immunosuppressive myeloid cell populations and their functionality in tumor–immune interactions and tumor progression.

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data across 2,658 tumors spanning 38 cancer types shows that chromothripsis is pervasive, with a frequency of more than 50% in several cancer types, contributing to oncogene amplification, gene inactivation and cancer genome evolution.

The molecular mechanisms that regulate postnatal termination of neurogenesis remain poorly described. Here authors report Prdm16 deletion leads to the retention of radial glia in adulthood and prolonged postnatal neuroblast production.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by heterogeneous phenotypes. Disruption of the gut–brain axis (GBA) has been implicated in ASD although with limited reproducibility across studies. In this study, the authors propose a framework to leverage multi-omic datasets and investigate how the GBA influences ASD.

The authors show that VSD-III, one of the four voltage-sensing domains of Ca_V1.1, has been evolutionarily assigned to serve as a sensor and transducer of skeletal muscle action potentials. The voltage-dependent motion of this sensor likely opens the ryanodine receptor causing Ca²⁺ release and contraction.

Cell fate commitment involves transcription factor activity and changes in chromatin architecture. Here the authors show that CAF-1 maintains lineage fidelity by controlling chromatin accessibility at specific sites; suppressing CAF-1 triggers differentiation of myeloid stem and progenitor cells into a mixed lineage state.

Type 2 inflammation drives the formation of pathologic mucus in patients with asthma. Here, authors reveal a role for intelectin-1 in IL-13-induced mucus properties, and that an ITLN1 eQTL is associated with protection from the formation of mucus plugs in T2-high asthma.

Both localized and distributed views on the functional organization of the brain have been put forward. In this Perspective, Rosen and Freedman examine the degree to which these two views account for abstract cognition.

Functional CRISPR screens in patient-matched pre-treatment and post-treatment glioblastoma models identify the PTP4A–ROBO1 axis as a driver of tumorigenicity and enriched ROBO1 expression in recurrent glioblastoma that can be targeted with CAR T cell therapy.