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Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

Exai-1, a cell-free RNA foundation model that integrates sequence, structure and expression features, advances liquid biopsy diagnostics by denoising noisy data, augmenting limited datasets and improving the generalizability of cancer detection models.

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

A high-resolution, global atlas of mortality of children under five years of age between 2000 and 2017 highlights subnational geographical inequalities in the distribution, rates and absolute counts of child deaths by age.

The mechanisms by which pyruvate metabolism defects lead to neurological symptoms in Leigh syndrome patients remain unclear. Here, the authors show a link between pyruvate metabolism and translation fidelity that is important for brain development.

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) profoundly affects Australian weather, climate, ecosystems and socio-economic sectors. This Review presents the progress made in understanding ENSO teleconnections to Australian weather over the past 40 years, describing the atmospheric dynamics, complexities and impacts of this climate phenomenon.

A longitudinal multiomics analysis of a patient with multiple myeloma who developed peripheral T cell lymphoma after treatment with anti-BCMA CAR T cells and a GPRC5D-directed bispecific antibody reveals that two mutated CAR⁺CD8⁺ T cell clones were probably drivers of the neoplasm.

Analysis of snRNA genes in individuals with rare disorders identifies de novo and recurrent variants in RNU5B-1 and RNU5A-1, in addition to previously unreported cases with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in RNU4-2.

Signatures of phyllosilicate-like hydrated minerals are widespread on Bennu’s surface, indicating significant aqueous alteration. The lack of spatial variations in the spectra down to the scale of ~100 m indicates both a relatively uniform particle size distribution and a lack of compositional segregation, possibly due to surficial redistribution processes.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

A generative AI model, Orion, learns a robust and generalizable pattern of non-small cell lung cancer from cancer-specific circulating non-coding RNAs. Orion enhances the performance of liquid biopsy for early cancer detection and tumor subtyping.

Multiple cellular pathways are altered in cancer and identifying them is relevant for prognosis and therapy. Here, the authors develop Benchmark and Pathway Ensemble Tool (PET), two computational approaches to optimise pathway discovery in cancer and predict related biomarkers and therapeutic avenues.

Contrary to the view that urbanization is a major driver of the global rise in obesity, the global increase in body-mass index is shown to be mostly due to increases in the body-mass indexes of rural populations.

Analysis of HbA1c and FPG levels across 117 population-based studies demonstrates regional variation in prevalence of previously undiagnosed screen-detected diabetes using one or both measures and suggests that use of elevated FPG alone could underestimate diabetes prevalence in low- and middle-income countries.

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.

Using a mouse model harboring a WHIM Syndrome-linked gain-of-function CXCR4 mutation and bone marrow samples from WHIM patients, the authors show that proper CXCR4 signaling termination is essential for bone tissue homeostasis.

PLX4032 is a selective inhibitor of the B-RAF protein that has shown promising results in an early clinical trial in melanoma patients with an activating mutation in B-RAF. Now the structure and function of this inhibitor are described. Translational data from a phase I trial show that clinical efficacy requires a substantial degree of inhibition of the ERK pathway downstream of B-RAF. The data also show that BRAF-mutant melanomas are highly dependent on B-RAF activity.

Shakked et al. highlight the importance of cardiomyocytes’ redifferentiation after dedifferentiation and proliferation in cardiac repair and show that redifferentiation depends on negative feedback signaling and LATS1/2 Hippo pathway activity. Cardiomyocyte redifferentiation not only promotes the restoration of cardiac function but also protects against future insult.

The prognostic value of OCT in progressive vs relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) is not clear. Analyzing 2651 OCTs of 407 MS patients, OCT predicted activity in all MS subtypes cross sectionally but longitudinal changes were not predictive in a multicenter setting.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Near-Earth asteroid Bennu has a top-like shape with longitudinal ridges, macroporosity, prominent boulders and surface mass wasting, suggesting that it is a stiff rubble pile, according to early observations by the OSIRIS-REx mission.

Learning and remembering new information is a major challenge for students of all levels. Here, the authors show that “neural alignment” across brains is associated with learning success of STEM concepts in a real-life college course and predicts learning outcomes.

A high-throughput screen of preclinical, investigational and FDA-approved drugs identifies compounds that possess antiviral and neuroprotective effects against Zika virus infection in human neural progenitor cells and astrocytes.

Genome editing of three SWEET gene promoters endows rice with resistance to all Xanthomonas bacterial blight strains tested.

MLLT3 is identified as a crucial regulator of the self-renewal of human haematopoietic stem cells, and helps to maintain an active chromatin state in haematopoietic stem-cell regulatory genes during culture.

Truong Nguyen, Kant, Van den Broeck et al. report the SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in Finland in 2020. Phylogeographic analysis suggests that 42 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions into Finland occurred, with a single introduction seeding one third of cases in the spring.

The Cancer Genome Atlas Network describe their multifaceted analyses of primary breast cancers, shedding light on breast cancer heterogeneity; although only three genes (TP53, PIK3CA and GATA3) are mutated at a frequency greater than 10% across all breast cancers, numerous subtype-associated and novel mutations were identified.

CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene editing tool that can be used to modulate gene expression. Here, the authors report the generation of a mouse model that express all components of the CRISPR-Cas9 guide directed Synergistic Activation Mediator (SAM), demonstrate that gene activation can be achieved with various delivery methods and include generation of a disease model of hypercholesterolemia

Vicinity of small bodies might be dangerous to the spacecrafts and to their instrumentation. Here the authors show the operational environment of asteroid Bennu, validate its photometric phase function and demonstrate the accelerating rotational rate due to YORP effect using the data acquired during the approach phase of OSIRIS-REx mission.

Glymphatic function is increased during the rest phase while more cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drains directly to the lymphatic system during the active phase. The water channel aquaporin-4 supports these endogenous, circadian rhythms in CSF distribution.

Bennu’s surface has experienced continuous changes, mostly induced by its accelerating spin rate, which could have resulted in a collapse of its interior in the past. This scenario is also supported by the heterogeneity of Bennu’s internal mass distribution.

During cardiac tissue formation it is unclear whether newly generated myocytes originate from cardiac progenitor cells or from pre-existing cardiomyocytes. Here, the authors use a stochastic four-colour reporter system (Rainbow) to identify the source of new cardiomyocytes during mouse development.

Here the authors show a function of RBM42 in regulating splicing and translation of the p53-target gene CDKN1A/p21. This makes RBM42 an RNA-binding protein that links splicing and translation to fine-tune gene expression during DNA damage.

Current treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) does not help all patients. Here, the authors show that using antibodies to block Jagged1 reduces disease burden in a model of nAMD, which could enable new treatment options.

A cross-sectional analysis of participants in the MetaCardis Body Mass Index Spectrum cohort finds that the higher prevalence of gut microbiota dysbiosis in individuals with obesity is not observed in those who take statin drugs.

Bennu’s surface presents evidence of a variety of particle sizes, from fine regolith to metre-sized boulders. Its moderate thermal inertia suggests that the boulders are very porous or blanketed by thin dust. Bennu’s boulders exhibit high albedo variations, indicating different origins and/or ages.

Near-Earth rubble-pile asteroid Bennu has an unexpectedly old surface, with numerous candidate impact craters and morphologically diverse boulders, according to early observations by the OSIRIS-REx mission.

This overview of the ENCODE project outlines the data accumulated so far, revealing that 80% of the human genome now has at least one biochemical function assigned to it; the newly identified functional elements should aid the interpretation of results of genome-wide association studies, as many correspond to sites of association with human disease.

Mikkola and colleagues show that medial HOXA gene expression, induced by retinoic acid signalling, marks the establishment of the definitive HSC fate and controls HSC identity and function.

Pig embryos with a human endothelium are generated through blastocyst complementation using human induced pluripotent stem cells.

Accessing charge transport along the out-of-plane direction in 2D crystals is challenging, yet essential to understanding their anisotropic properties. Here, both in-plane and out-of-plane transport are measured in Ti₃C₂T_x with experimental and computational tools, enabling quantitative analysis.

Strategic deployment of blight-resistant rice lines is enabled by a molecular diagnostic kit.

Observations of asteroid (101955) Bennu with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reveal an unexpected surficial diversity that poses a challenge to the success of the sample-return mission.

Squeezed states of light have been experimentally demonstrated to improve the performance of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in astrophysically relevant frequency regions. This enhanced performance may help to reach the sensitivity required for detecting gravitational waves.

Next-generation RAF inhibitors that inhibit oncogenic BRAF without inducing paradoxical pathway activation in cells with mutant RAS might yield improved safety and more durable efficacy.