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Here, the authors develop AMPLiT a tool for screening antimicrobial peptides in metagenomic datasets, and apply it to human coprolite metagenomes, finding that Segatella copri, an ancient prevalent human gut bacterium declined in modern populations, harbors unexplored antimicrobial reservoir, offering an alternative approach against modern pathogenic infections.

Mechanical recycling of incompatible mixed plastics is challenging, as it often downcycles plastics into brittle materials. Here the authors develop a multi-arm topological universal dynamic crosslinker platform to enable mechanical upcycling of incompatible mixed plastics.

Stereoselective synthetic routes use P3HB (a polyester produced by bacteria) as a chiral feedstock for related polymers that have properties more amenable to processing and use.

Biodegradable plastics usually have poorer mechanical or transport properties compared to conventional plastics. Here the authors show a class of biorenewable and chemically recyclable plastics based on copolymers of γ-butyrolactone and its ring-fused derivative, with competitive properties compared to conventional plastics.

When strategizing the design of sustainable polymers, the timescale must be an essential dimension, that is, even for bio-based and/or biodegradable plastics their resource utilization should not outpace resource regeneration, argues Eugene Chen.

The selective synthesis of ultrahigh-molar-mass (UHMM) cyclic polymers from direct polymerization is elusive. Using a chemically recyclable polythioester as a model, it has now been shown that a common superbase mediates living linear-chain growth, followed by proton-triggered linear-to-cyclic topological transformation, producing UHMM cyclic polymers with a narrow dispersity.

Although several advances have been made in chemical Polyethylene (PE) re- and upcycling, energy-efficient and selective catalytic processes are still lacking. Here, the authors show coupling of an industrially relevant coordination copolymerization olefins with a functionalized chain-transfer agent, followed by modular assembly of the resulting telechelic polyolefin building blocks by polycondensation to afford ester-linked PE-based random and block copolymers which exhibit full chemical circularity.

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.

A new compatibilization strategy installs dynamic crosslinkers into several classes of binary, ternary and postconsumer immiscible polymer mixtures in situ, with the resulting compatibilized dynamic thermosets exhibiting intrinsic reprocessability and enhanced tensile strength and creep resistance.

Somatic hypermutation of antibodies can occur in infants but are difficult to track. Here the authors present a new method called MIDCIRS for deep quantitative repertoire sequencing with few cells, and show infants as young as 3 months can expand antibody lineage complexity in response to malaria infection.

The synthesis of cyclic polymers remains challenging. Now a trifunctional B-P-B frustrated Lewis pair has been shown to enable easy access to cyclic acrylic polymers through a bimolecular mechanism. These cyclic polymers have enhanced thermodynamic properties compared with their linear counterparts, while maintaining high chemical recyclability.

Geminal disubstitution of cyclic monomers is known to improve the chemical recyclability of their polymers, but usually at the expense of performance properties. Now, geminal disubstitution of a six-membered lactone has been shown to synergistically enable chemical recyclability back to the monomer and enhance the materials performance of the resulting polyesters, with properties that rival or exceed those of polyethylene.

Bacterial poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) possesses physical and mechanical properties suitable for substituting high-performance petroleum plastics but current production is costly and slow. Here the authors produce poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) with similar properties via ring-opening polymerization of bio-derived racemic cyclic diolide.

Bio-derived γ-butyrolactone (γ-BL) is commonly referred to as ‘non-polymerizable’ due to its low strain energy. Now it has been shown that ring-opening polymerization of γ-BL can in fact proceed to high conversions under ambient pressure with a suitable catalyst, producing high-molecular-weight polymers with controlled topologies and complete recyclability.

Results for the final phase of the 1000 Genomes Project are presented including whole-genome sequencing, targeted exome sequencing, and genotyping on high-density SNP arrays for 2,504 individuals across 26 populations, providing a global reference data set to support biomedical genetics.

The use of an allosteric drug-design method resulted in the identification of a first-in-class cellularly active SIRT6 activator that induces cell-cycle arrest in the G₀–G₁ phase, thus suppressing proliferation in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

While a large number of chemically recyclable thermoplastics have been developed in recent years, technologically bio-based and fully recyclable thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) with excellent mechanical properties are lacking. Here the authors demonstrate an all δvalerolactone-based polyester tri-BCP TPEs, which exhibit not only closed-loop chemical recyclability but also exceptional toughness.

Catalytic methods for converting bio-derived feedstocks into lactones are reviewed, emphasizing scalable, energy-efficient processes. Free energy analysis guides process design and pathway selection, whereas literature highlights accessible lactone precursors from various metabolic and chemo-catalytic pathways.

Biobased poly(γ-methyl-α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone) (PMMBL) has attracted interest because it is biorenewable and exhibits superior properties to petroleum-based linear analog poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Here the authors report the synthesis of well-defined PMMBL-based ABA tri-block copolymers, enabled by dual-initiating and living frustrated Lewis pairs, which have superior mechanical properties compared to those of PMMA-based tri-BCPs.

The application of genome-wide CRISPR–Cas9 screening coupled with a fluorescent reporter to interrogate the microRNA pathway reveals that continual transient phosphorylation of Argonaute 2 is required to maintain the global efficiency of microRNA-mediated repression.

International challenges have become the de facto standard for comparative assessment of image analysis algorithms. Here, the authors present the results of a biomedical image segmentation challenge, showing that a method capable of performing well on multiple tasks will generalize well to a previously unseen task.

Rai et al. report that CAMSAPs can bind to minus ends of microtubules attached to γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC) and drive microtubule release. They show that CDK5RAP2, but not CLASP2, inhibits CAMSAP-mediated microtubule release from γ-TuRC.

Sim, Tham et al. explore the combined predictive ability of clinical, retinal, and blood biomarkers for the prediction of cognitive decline in Southeast Asian memory clinic participants. Authors find that combining blood tests, eye markers, and clinical data may be a potential noninvasive tool for early risk detection for cognitive decline.

The subcommissural organ (SCO) is a gland in the brain, and relatively little is known about its function. Zhang et al. genetically ablated SCO cells and observed severe hydrocephalus and neuronal defects. The reintroduction of SCO-derived peptides into SCO-ablated brain substantially rescued developmental defects.

RIPK1 regulates inflammation and cell death and is inhibited by phosphorylation on numerous residues. Here, the authors use a CRISPR whole genome screen to identify that protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 3G regulates RIPK1 apoptotic and necroptotic activity as well as inflammation.

O’Donnell and colleagues report that activation of the integrated stress response in non-small cell lung cancer cells by impairing heme production leads to enhanced PD-L1 translation in an eIF5B-dependent manner.

The HIF-2 antagonist PT2399 is tested in mice bearing tumourgrafts derived from human renal cell cancers to demonstrate its efficacy, identify markers of sensitivity and characterize its effects.

Bio-based polymers that exhibit superior performance relative to petroleum-based incumbents can encourage industry adoption and offset fossil carbon use. This Review introduces performance-advantaged, bio-based polymers and highlights examples wherein superior performance is facilitated by the inherent chemical functionality of bio-based feedstocks.

This study shows that, despite malignant transformation, autoimmune checkpoints are still functional in B-cell leukaemia, with targeted activation of these checkpoints effectively killing patient-derived B-cell leukaemia in a transplant model; the results represent a novel strategy to overcome drug resistance in leukaemia patients.

Methods for the transformation of plastics into materials with value, known as plastic waste upcycling, are outlined, and their advantages and challenges in terms of a sustainable plastics economy are discussed.