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Body size and composition are complex traits that are challenging to characterize due to environmental and genetic influences. Here, Arehart et al. disentangle shared and distinct genetic signals underlying body size and composition.

Female genital tract (FGT) microbiome dynamics in discordant HIV shedding and long-term antiretroviral therapy are poorly understood. Here, using 125 cervicovaginal specimens collected over two years from 31 women living with HIV in Lima, Peru, Kaelin et al. show that FGT bacteriome and virome patterns over time are linked with discordant shedding and ART duration.

Interactions between qubits and defect-related two-level systems in superconducting qubit devices are a major source of noise fluctuations that hinder error-mitigation performance. Here, the authors experimentally show that modulating this interaction can reduce noise fluctuation and improve error mitigation performance.

One argument for conserving biological diversity is that it delivers beneficial ecosystem services. However, Kleijn et al.show that the economic benefits of crop pollination are delivered by only a small subset of relatively common species, arguing that threatened species should be considered separately.

Plunge into a profusion of brilliant summer reads suggested by regular reviewers and editors, far away from the lab and lecture hall.

Only in areas of agricultural fields where nitrate and dissolved organic carbon availability were high could soil moisture stimulate high nitrous oxide emissions, according to a conceptual model based on spatial measurements of emissions and soil properties.

Deciphering the origin, age, and composition of deep marine organic carbon remains a challenge for understanding the dynamics of the marine carbon cycle. Here, the authors identify (sub)micron-sized graphite emanating from both high and low temperature hydrothermal vents along the East Pacific Rise, and suggest graphite is a source of old carbon in the deep ocean.

There has been much interest recently in the transport mechanisms of metals from hydrothermal vents. Here the authors found that nanoparticulate pyrite is not removed from the plume and can account for over 50% of filtered iron one metre from the vent mouth.

Researchers are redefining twenty-first-century conferences at which delegates set the agenda.

Iterative expansion microscopy enables the use of confocal microscopes to uncover nanostructures in expanded yet otherwise intact tissues at a resolution of about 20 nm, as shown with the imaging of periodic amyloid nanoclusters in brain tissue.

Whole-genome sequencing analysis of individuals with primary immunodeficiency identifies new candidate disease-associated genes and shows how the interplay between genetic variants can explain the variable penetrance and complexity of the disease.

Integrating CO₂ capture and electrochemical conversion avoids the thermal release of CO₂ and thus could potentially lower the energy needed to make useful products from CO₂, but choosing optimal system components is still challenging. Here the authors use piperazine alongside a nickel catalyst for capture and achieve high energy efficiency and stable CO production.

This study maps the connections of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the mouse cortex, revealing distinct local and intercortical wiring patterns, and provides an open framework for exploring the connectivity of cell types.

The chemical properties of a molecular monolayer on the surface of a non-spherical nanoparticle depend on its local curvature; an effect that can be exploited to drive the self-assembly of these nanoparticles into different structures.

Mature parts of the shallow megathrust beneath Costa Rica are characterized by striking corrugations that may channel fluids, according to seismic images. Nascent sections of the subduction zone plate boundary appear only weakly corrugated.

Modelling of the evolution of atmospheric methane emissions from the 2022 Nord Stream subsea pipeline leaks shows that the event emitted the largest recorded amount of methane from a single transient event.

Whether or not deep neural networks require hierarchical representations to predict brain activity is not known. Here, the authors show that a multi-branch deep neural network can predict neural activity independently in visual areas in the absence of hierarchical representations.

Yang et al. show that transcription–replication collisions lead to large tandem duplications, which are frequent in female-enriched, upper gastrointestinal tract and prostate cancers and are associated with poor survival and mutations in specific genes, such as CDK12.

The results obtained by seventy different teams analysing the same functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset show substantial variation, highlighting the influence of analytical choices and the importance of sharing workflows publicly and performing multiple analyses.

Costa-Verdera et. al describe a mechanism by which AAV vector genomes activate P53-mediated signalling in CNS cells involving downstream STING activation and pro-inflammatory responses. Inhibition of either P53 or STING prevented target-cell apoptosis and inflammatory signalling.

Bond et al. show that inducible PolG mutation in muscle causes mtDNA damage and muscle wasting. This is driven by the integrated stress response (ISR) and reduction in folate intermediates, linking impaired folate metabolism with ISR/disease induction.

An integrated analysis of de novo and inherited coding variants in 42,607 individuals with autism spectrum disorder identifies 60 risk genes of which five have not previously been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Arginylation is a post-translational modification that is difficult to distinguish from arginine residues using mass spectrometry. Now a method has been developed to profile protein arginylation ex vivo and is tested on different samples, revealing 235 unique arginylation sites in the human proteomes.

A high-throughput screen of substances generally recognized as safe identifies species-specific materials that stabilize live microbial therapeutics as powders, making them robust to pharmaceutical manufacturing workflows.

How the navigational system of the brain constructs spatial maps that require both rapid changes and representational accuracy is explored.

Small water bodies are crucial in global hydrologic and biogeochemical cycles. This study reveals rapid losses of small water bodies in China and highlights their restoration as a cost-effective, sustainable solution to improve water quality.

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.

Doerig, Kietzmann and colleagues show that the brain’s response to visual scenes can be modelled using language-based AI representations. By linking brain activity to caption-based embeddings from large language models, the study reveals a way to quantify complex visual understanding.

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are important for the stability and function of many therapeutic proteins. Here, the authors develop a high-throughput workflow combining cell-free gene expression with AlphaLISA to rapidly characterize and engineer PTMs on both proteins and peptides.

Papers suggesting that biotech crops might harm the environment attract a hail of abuse from other scientists. Emily Waltz asks if the critics fight fair.

BMP signaling is important for multiple process, including craniofacial development, but relatively little is known about how BMP ligands are secreted. Here they show that embryonic palate mesenchyme cells undergo transient changes in intracellular calcium and that depolarization of these cells induces BMP4 release, suggesting that ion channels are a node in BMP4 signaling.

Adipogenesis associated Mth938 Domain Containing gene (AAMDC) is frequently amplified in the IntClus2 subgroup of ER + breast cancer. Here, the authors show that AAMDC drives tumourigenesis through activating PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway for metabolic reprogramming.

The role of microglia in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is unclear. Here, the authors show that iPSC microglia from C9orf72-ALS patients are toxic to motor neurons and identify microglial MMP9 as a potential therapeutic target.

Intrusive memories are a hallmark symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This preregistered meta-analysis investigates how experimental techniques alter intrusive memory frequency, intrusion-related distress and symptoms arising from lab-analogue trauma exposure.

It is time to use evidence-based teaching practices at all levels by providing incentives and effective evaluations, urge Stephen E. Bradforth, Emily R. Miller and colleagues.

Histone H3-mutant gliomas are deadly brain tumours and the tumour microenvironment is not fully understood. Here the authors profile the immune microenvironment from human samples and mouse models and implicate myeloid cells in immune suppression and show inhibition of myeloid cells and checkpoint blockade demonstrates therapeutic benefits in mice.

Development of a biosensor for GPCR trafficking to the lysosome combined with a genome-wide CRISPR screen identified DNAJC13 as a critical regulator of agonist-induced trafficking of the δ-opioid receptor to the lysosome.

Experimental models of breast cancer reveal the phosphoinositide-phosphatases PIPP and PTEN play non-redundant roles in suppressing mouse mammary epithelial cell transformation, and disease progression in a subset of human breast cancers.

Ketamine’s antidepressant effects can be accompanied by altered spatial cognition. Here, the authors record from thousands of neurons in awake behaving mice to reveal how ketamine disrupts coding in the spatial navigation circuit.

The authors show that extreme fire years in global forests align with rare fire weather extremes. Climate change has made such extremes 88-152% more probable. These findings highlight the need for action towards adaptation and mitigation of fire impacts.

Chronic intestinal inflammatory diseases including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease display extensive heterogeneity in the immunopathology, disease manifestation and response to treatment. Here the authors apply single cell transcriptomic and spatial molecular imaging, and characterise macrophage and neutrophils in samples from patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.

The evolutionarily conserved SARS-CoV-2 spike’s S2 subunit provides the foundation for its usage as an immunogen in vaccines. Here, the authors use a simulation-driven approach to design S2-only immunogens stabilized in the closed prefusion conformation.

Plant-parasitic nematodes have the potential to destroy crops globally, and limited options for managing nematode infestation are available. Here, the authors report the 1,3,4-oxadiazole thioether scaffold called Cyprocide that selectively kills nematodes including diverse species of plant-parasitic nematodes.

In this study, Weiss, Palmieri et al. show that macrophage-derived itaconate impinges on hepatocyte lipid metabolism. This mechanism participates in the crosstalk of the immune system with hepatocytes during the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Nellie is a comprehensive automated pipeline for studying the structure and intracellular dynamics of diverse organelles that offers accurate segmentation, tracking and feature extraction on both 2D and 3D data.

Intratumoural heterogeneity in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) remains to be explored. Here, the authors perform spatial transcriptomics and reveal a high degree of subclonal heterogeneity in HGSOC.

Nature Biotechnology's readers select some of biotech's most remarkable and influential personalities from the past 10 years.

Whole-genome sequencing of an ancient male Egyptian revealed a mixture of North African Neolithic and eastern Fertile Crescent ancestry, suggesting human migration between Egypt and Mesopotamia by the Old Kingdom period.