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Floquet engineering is often limited by weak light–matter coupling and heating. Now it is shown that exciton-driven fields in monolayer semiconductors produce stronger, longer-lived Floquet effects and reveal hybridization linked to excitonic phases.

Pangenomic and epidemiological analyses reveal a genetic shift in U.S. Salmonella Hadar populations during 2019–20, driven by expansion of a lineage carrying a prophage-like element that likely arose in commercial poultry and spread to backyard flocks.

Identifying jets originating from heavy quarks plays a fundamental role in hadronic collider experiments. In this work, the ATLAS Collaboration describes and tests a transformer-based neural network architecture for jet flavour tagging based on low-level input and physics-inspired constraints.

Experiments with a trapped-ion quantum simulator observe Stark many-body localization, in which the quantum system evades thermalization despite having no disorder.

In strong enough electric fields the non-linear response of electrons in crystals is expected to lead to spatial localization but so far this has only been seen in artificial structures. Schmidt et al. present evidence of this Wannier-Stark localization effect in bulk GaAs driven by intense mid-infrared pulses.

The quantum-confined Stark effect is conventionally observed in inorganic semiconductor multilayer quantum well structures that are expensive to make. Here Walters et al. report large Stark effects in easily made layered hybrid perovskites and exploit the orientational polarizability of dipolar cations.

Bohlen and colleagues report that the E3 ubiquitin ligase CBL is necessary for the development, tolerance and activation of B cells in humans, unlike in mice where CBL deficiency results in loss of T cells.

RNAi therapy has huge potential but effective delivery to target location is a major issue. Here, the authors report on the delivery of RNAi to tumors using self-agglomerating nanohydrogels that can overcome the different delivery barriers and supply multiple RNAi payloads.

One of three back-to-back papers to show that dosage of BACH2 can modulate T cell differentiation and function and how we might apply this to enhance CAR T cell therapies for cancer.

Approved antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) remain constrained by a limited repertoire of payloads with restricted modes of action. Here, the authors present phosphoramidate-based self-immolative linker units that facilitate stable attachment in serum and traceless drug release in the target cell from aliphatic and aromatic alcohols with various modes of action.

Genomic analyses applied to 14 childhood- and adult-onset psychiatric disorders identifies five underlying genomic factors that explain the majority of the genetic variance of the individual disorders.

A universal design strategy for nanograined metals aimed at utilizing oxygen nanoclustering to achieve the highly desired combination of high strength and large deformability that evades inverse Hall-Petch softening.

The HTLV-1 capsid (CA) domain of Gag was resolved to 3.4 Å resolution and reveals insights into immature lattice stabilization, the varying lattice curvatures and distances from the membrane, and the dispensable nature of inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) for immature particle assembly.

Candida albicans must adapt to hypoxia. Here, the authors discover the sterol C4-methyl oxidase (SMO) Erg251 is essential for extreme hypoxic growth, as well as virulence and colonization, and that SMO inhibitors have therapeutic potential.

TDP-43 dysfunction in ALS/FTD causes faulty splicing of the KCNQ2 ion channel, leading to toxic protein buildup, neuron hyperactivity and a potential new biomarker and treatment target using RNA-based therapies.

Magneto-optical traps (MOTs) are a workhorse for laser cooling of atoms and were recently extended to molecules. Yet, new mechanisms for molecular trapping and cooling are still an open area of exploration. Here, the authors show a blue-detuned MOT based on a conveyor-belt effect for CaF molecules, yielding higher number densities, comparable with some atomic MOTs.

Npm1 promotes tumor formation via attenuating the integrated stress response and p53 activation in mouse WNT-driven intestinal and liver tumorigenesis.

Laser cooling is a powerful technique that enables precision measurements and quantum control, yet its implementation in molecules remains challenging due to their complex structures. Here, the authors apply 2D transverse laser cooling to a focused beam of cold barium monofluoride (138Ba19F) molecules to significantly increase beam brightness.

An 11-qubit atom processor comprising two precision-placed nuclear spin registers of phosphorus in silicon is shown to achieve state-of-the-art Bell-state fidelities of up to 99.5%.

TIRTL-seq is a high-throughput method for paired T cell receptor sequencing at the cohort scale.

The spatial structure of vortex laser beams associates angular momentum to photons, which, in addition to their spin, can be used to tailor light-matter interactions. Here, the authors excite an atomic transition with a vortex laser beam, showing that the transfer of angular momentum modifies selection rules.

Scaling up the number of atoms or ions in optical atomic clocks enables better precision, but this is often accompanied by interactions that limit the accuracy. Here, the authors propose and discuss using a three dimensional Coulomb crystal of one thousand Sn2+ ions as an optical atomic clock with both high precision and high accuracy.

Carnitine uptake by OCTN2 supports fatty acid metabolism. Here, authors report cryo-EM structures of human OCTN2, revealing the mechanism of sodium ion-dependent carnitine transport and providing insight into disease-associated variants.

Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA) is a neurodegenerative disorder driven by frataxin (FXN) deficiency. Here, the authors show that FXN loss in human microglia causes mitochondrial and lysosomal defects that trigger neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, rescued by gene editing.

Apoptotic cells often release extracellular vesicles that aid in their clearance and provide molecular information to cellular neighbours. Here, the authors show that some adherent apoptotic cells also create vesicles that remain attached at the site of death.

Insights into the mechanism of methylthio-alkane reductase (MAR)—a nitrogenase-like enzyme essential for growth under sulfate-limited conditions—have remained scarce. Now a cryo-EM structure of MAR from Rhodospirillum rubrum, along with spectroscopic investigations, reveals how it uses complex metallocofactors for catalysis.

Here authors demonstrate how opposing trajectories of dopamine transmission underlie changes in drug seeking and taking over chronic drug use. Increased dopamine to drug cues elevates craving, whereas decreased dopamine produces escalation of drug consumption.

An optical tweezer array of individual polyatomic molecules is created, revealing the obvious state control in the tweezer array and enabling further research on polyatomic molecules with diverse spatial arrangements.

Manipulating magnetic orders by electric fields promises energy efficient spintronic applications. Here the authors demonstrate electrical control of s-p exchange interaction in a ferromagnet-semiconductor quantum well structure due to the phononic ac Stark effect.

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.

Bacterial antigens, such as lipopolysaccharides, are complex structures which remain difficult to synthesise or purify for antibody generation. Here, authors present a platform technology using Citrobacter rodentium - an enteric mouse pathogen - to both produce and present complex antigens for antibody generation.

Glutamatergic and GABAergic (γ-aminobutyric acid-producing) cortical neuronal activity drives proliferation of small lung cell cancer via paracrine interactions and through synapses formed with tumour cells.

Using historical aerial photographs and new bed topography data, accelerating changes on Kennicott and Root Glaciers, Alaska since 1938 are documented. These observations inform projections showing 38–63% mass loss by 2100, depending on future climate.

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) gives access to the atomic-scale properties of matter. Here, the authors showcase the fluorescent functionalization of an STM tip using a single molecule in direct metal contact, permitting the local electrostatic and -dynamic environment to be probed.

Atomic clocks are increasingly important for many applications in scientific research and technology. Here, Nicholson et al. present a series of developments allowing them to achieve a new record in atomic clock performance, with a systematic uncertainty of just 2.1 × 10⁻¹⁸ for their ⁸⁷Sr atomic clock.

The authors identify pathogenic variants in the SMARCA1 gene as the cause of a variable neurodevelopmental disorder. Mouse studies suggest diverse genetic mechanisms related to NURF complex composition mediate the phenotype.

Here the authors show that MRAP2 tunes the melanocortin-4 receptor by boosting its G-protein signaling while limiting β-arrestin2 interaction and destabilizing receptor oligomers, shaping appetite regulation.

Malaria control and elimination require environmentally safe strategies. Here, the authors propose L-DOPA, a naturally occurring tyrosine derivative, as a mosquito dietary intervention that can shorten lifespan and reduce malaria parasite burden of female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes.

Insecticide resistance can limit the effectiveness of insecticide-treated nets for malaria prevention, but other factors such as access and durability also contribute. Here, the authors quantify impacts of this ‘cascade’ of factors using a mathematical model.

A quantum simulator can follow the evolution of a prescribed model, whose behaviour may be difficult to determine. Here, the emergence of magnetism is simulated by implementing a quantum Ising model, providing a benchmark for simulations in larger systems.

The design and improvement of enzymes based on physical principles remain challenging. Now, the vibrational Stark effect has been used to demonstrate how an electrostatic model can unify the catalytic effects of distinct chemical forces in a quantitative manner and guide the design of enzyme variants that outperform their natural counterpart.

Cancer evolutionary dynamics are quantitatively inferred using a method, EVOFLUx, applied to fluctuating DNA methylation.

Norovirus genotype GII.17 has been linked with a recent increase in cases in Europe and the Americas. Here, the authors investigate the genetic diversity and mutational patterns, and phenotypic differences associated with the recent circulating strain.

An artificial Kitaev chain is realized by engineering three coupled quantum dots in a two-dimensional electron gas, which enables the manipulation and observation of both the edge and bulk states.