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Fluorescent biosensors are important tools for studying cellular metabolism, but development and optimization are challenging. Koveal et al. present a high-throughput multiparameter screen for sensor performance, and used it to generate LiLac, a high-performance, quantitative lactate sensor.

The InSight spacecraft landed on Mars on November 2018. Here, the authors characterize the surficial geology of the landing site and compare with observations and models derived from remote sensing data prior to landing and from ongoing in situ geophysical investigations of the subsurface.

Single-cell RNA sequencing of cells from humans with multiple sclerosis and mice with a model of the disease identifies a population of disease-promoting astrocytes in which anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory proteins are suppressed.

It has been thought that sheets of cells move by traction forces exerted by the cells at the leading edge of the sheet. Using traction microscopy to create a map of physical forces, it is now shown that in fact it is cells many rows from the front that do most of the work.

A metafluid with programmable compressibility, optical behaviour and viscosity is realized by mixing deformable spherical shells that undergo buckling within an incompressible fluid; the versatility of these metafluids opens up numerous opportunities for functionality.

Wigger, Barovic and Brunner et al. perform a multidimensional analysis of islets from metabolically characterized patients who had undergone pancreatectomy, observing remarkable heterogeneity between samples from individuals with type 2 diabetes, thus arguing against models of linear beta-cell dedifferentiation in diabetes.

The BTK inhibitor ibrutinib is used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, however some patients develop resistance to the drug. Here, the authors use genomic analyses to examine the clonal evolution of 5 patients that develop resistance to ibrutinib.

Glasses can be divided into fragile or strong, depending on whether they show a marked dependence of their relaxation time with temperature when approaching the glass transition. Although colloidal particles have previously been found to produce only fragile glasses, here it is shown that deformable colloidal particles exhibit the same variation in fragility as that observed in molecular liquids. Colloids are easy to study, so this model should provide new insight into glass formation in molecular systems.

Scanning photocurrent microscopy has revealed that metal contacts lead to potential steps that act as transport barriers in graphene devices. The formation of p-type conducting edges surrounding a central n-type channel has also been observed at low carrier densities.

Circadian co-regulators cryptochrome 1 and 2 are shown to alter globally the transcriptional response to glucocorticoids in mouse embryonic fibroblasts.

Bioelectronic interfacing with living tissues should match the biomechanical properties of biological materials to reduce damage to the tissues. Here, the authors present a fully viscoelastic microelectrode array composed of an alginate matrix and carbon-based nanomaterials encapsulated in a viscoelastic hydrogel for electrical stimulation and signal recording of heart and brain activities in vivo.

Epithelial cells are shown to scale via a shape distribution that is common to a number of different systems, suggesting that cell shape and shape variability are constrained through a relationship that is purely geometrical.

The diheme enzyme MauG forms a bis-Fe(IV) state. Here the authors identify and determine the structure of BthA, a diheme peroxidase conserved in all Burkholderia and show that BthA also forms a bis-Fe(IV) species but mechanistically differs from MauG by combining magnetic resonance, near-IR and Mössbauer spectroscopies and electrochemical methods.

Autorepression of PER-encoding genes underlies the periodic fluctuations in expression that drive the circadian clock. New work shows that histone deacetylase and histone methyltransferase activities are sequentially recruited to promoters of PER-encoding genes by separate PER protein–containing complexes and repress transcription via histone H3K9 modifications at those targets.

Cell shape provides a structural signature for the classification and investigation of the jamming of bronchial epithelial layers in asthma.

Well-defined, monodisperse colloids of semiconducting polymers are required as new photonic and optoelectronic materials. Here, a Suzuki–Miyaura dispersion polymerization is used to produce monodisperse sub-micrometer particles of a range of semiconducting polymers.

Successive alleles competing along predictable adaptive trajectories largely governs the rate of evolution of proteins involved in antimalarial drug resistance, with implications for management of antimicrobial resistance in the real world.

Caveolae in arteriolar endothelial cells—but not those in neighbouring smooth muscle cells—have a key role in neurovascular coupling, an essential function for meeting acute brain energy demand.

Dabigatran has been associated with an increase in acute coronary events when compared with warfarin in several randomized trials, and now in a meta-analysis by Uchino and Hernandez. We critically review the evidence for this association and consider the implications for patient care.

Hydrogels with faster stress relaxation enhance the spreading, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation of embedded mesenchymal stem cells.

Studies of cellular mechanotransduction commonly use elastic substrates, whereas biological substrates are viscoelastic, exhibiting stress relaxation. Here, the authors show through computational modelling and experiments that viscoelastic substrates can stimulate cell spreading to a greater extent than purely elastic substrates with the same initial stiffness.

During urinary tract infections, the urinary microbiome is enriched in temperate phages with increased recombination activity, possibly facilitating bacterial infections. Temperate phages could be used as therapeutic “Trojan Horses”.

The integrated and indivisible nature of the SDGs is facing implementation challenges due to the silo approaches. We present the three interconnected foci (SDG interactions, modeling, and tools) at the science-policy interface to address these challenges. Accounting for them will support accelerated SDG progress, operationalizing the integration and indivisibility principles.

Malignant phenotypes in the mammary epithelium have been correlated to increases in extracellular matrix stiffness. It is now shown that the effect of matrix stiffness in normal mammary epithelial cells can be offset by an increase in basement-membrane ligands and that both the stiffness and composition of the matrix are sensed by the β4 integrin. The results suggest that the relationship between matrix stiffness and composition is a more relevant predictor of breast-cancer progression.

Placing monolayer tungsten diselenide on Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene promotes enhanced superconductivity, indicating that proximity-induced spin–orbit coupling plays a key role in stabilizing the pairing, paving the way for engineering tunable, ultra-clean graphene-based superconductors.

The Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues Network aims to create a reference catalogue of somatic mosaicism across different tissues and cells within individuals.

A new study models the potential effects of preferentially deploying recovered individuals, who are seropositive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, into the community to reduce the number of interactions between susceptible and infected people, thereby limiting transmission of the virus.

The mechanical properties of biomaterials affect cell growth through mechanotransduction signals. Here, hydrogels with fast stress relaxation were developed and showed increased cartilage matrix formation by cartilage cells compared to slow relaxation hydrogels.

Inhibition of factor XI has emerged as a promising strategy to mitigate bleeding while potentially preserving antithrombotic efficacy. In this Review, the authors comprehensively discuss the rationale, pharmacology, evidence and future directions for factor XI inhibitors across various clinical settings.

Atrial fibrillation and chronic kidney disease (CKD) frequently coexist and confer an increased risk of stroke. Novel anticoagulants are attractive options over warfarin but undergo renal clearance to varying degrees, and therefore require special consideration in patients with CKD. Recent studies also challenge the benefits of warfarin anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation patients undergoing haemodialysis. This Review discusses the data relating to anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation and CKD and highlights the need for further studies to delineate the optimal use of new anticoagulant agents in patients with CKD.

Despite recent advances in the field of medical and radiation oncology, and the introduction of neoadjuvant and adjuvant regimens, surgery remains the single most important modality for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This Review discusses the technical improvements that have made pancreatic surgery safe, with low morbidity and mortality rates in tertiary referral centers, and it highlights the challenges of surgical palliation.

Adjacent drops of fluid coalesce, and oppositely charged drops have long been assumed to experience an attractive force that favours their coalescence. However, here it is observed that oppositely charged drops moving towards each other in a strong electric field do not coalesce when the field strength exceeds a certain value but rather 'bounce' off one another. This observation calls for a re-evaluation of our understanding of processes such as storm cloud formation and ink-jet printing, which involve electrically induced droplet motion.