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Artificial intelligence-designed proteins could block the deadly effects of snake venom. Plus, who are science’s winners and losers under Trump 2.0?

In this Stage 2 Registered Report, Buchanan et al. show evidence confirming the phenomenon of semantic priming across speakers of 19 diverse languages.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

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.

Analyses of 475 ancient horse genomes show modern horses emerged around 2200 bce, coinciding with sudden expansion across Eurasia, refuting the narrative of large horse herds accompanying earlier migrations of steppe peoples across Europe.

The complex nature of food supply chains makes it a crucial exercise to estimate the impacts of disruptions caused by climate disasters. By applying an integrated modelling framework to Australia and considering heatwaves, cyclones and other climate events, this study presents novel ways of quantifying regional and sectoral spillover effects—including job and income losses, food and nutrient availability, and diet quality.

Self-assembled multidomain supramolecular peptide hydrogels that engage in dynamic covalent bonding with small-molecule drugs and biologics are shown to offer sustained release, extend the activity, and maintain safe and potent drug levels in vivo.

Jayavelu, Samaha et al., apply machine learning models on hospital admission data, including antibody titers and viral load, to identify patients at high risk for Long COVID. Low antibody levels, high viral loads, chronic diseases, and female sex are key predictors, supporting early, targeted interventions.

Excitatory neurons in the neocortex exhibit considerable morphological diversity, yet their organizational principles remain a subject of ongoing research. Here, the authors use unsupervised learning to show that most excitatory neuron morphologies in the mouse visual cortex form a continuum, with notable exceptions in deeper layers.

Neural Decomposition (NEURD) is a software package that decomposes neuronal data from high-resolution electron microscopy volumes into feature-rich graph representations to facilitate analysis for neuroscience research.

The global distribution of nearly all extant reptile species reveals richness patterns that differ spatially from that of other taxa. Conservation prioritization should specifically consider reptile distributions, particularly lizards and turtles.

By bringing together whole exome and genome sequencing data from five cohorts, the authors assess the contribution of rare germline variants to prostate cancer risk and severity, further validating previously reported genes, and implicating a role for genes not previously reported.

Peer review information

Nature Communications thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.

Most Amazon tree species are rare but a small proportion are common across the region. The authors show that different species are hyperdominant in different size classes and that hyperdominance is more phylogenetically restricted for larger canopy trees than for smaller understory ones.

Using volumetric electron microscopy, the authors map and analyze the structure of cortical inhibition with synaptic resolution across a column of visual cortex.

The goals, resources and design of the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) programme are described, and analyses of rare variants detected in the first 53,831 samples provide insights into mutational processes and recent human evolutionary history.

The MICrONS mouse visual cortex dataset shows that neurons with similar response properties preferentially connect, a pattern that emerges within and across brain areas and layers, and independently emerges in artificial neural networks where these ‘like-to-like’ connections prove important for task performance.

Whole-genome sequence data for 108 individuals representing 28 language groups across Australia and five language groups for Papua New Guinea suggests that Aboriginal Australians and Papuans diverged from Eurasian populations approximately 60–100 thousand years ago, following a single out-of-Africa dispersal and subsequent admixture with archaic populations.

A cross-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci, reveals putative causal genes, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as potential drug targets, and provides cross-ancestry integrative risk prediction.

Genome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in ancestrally diverse populations implicate candidate causal genes and mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes. Trans-ancestry genetic risk scores enhance transferability across populations.

Estimates from the Global Dietary Database indicated that 2.2 million new type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cardiovascular disease cases were attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages worldwide in 2020, with the highest burdens in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of type 2 diabetes (T2D) identifies more than 600 T2D-associated loci; integrating physiological trait and single-cell chromatin accessibility data at these loci sheds light on heterogeneity within the T2D phenotype.

A survey of sharks and rays on coral reefs within 66 marine protected areas across 36 countries showcases that the conservation benefits of full MPA protection to sharks almost double when accompanied by effective fisheries management.

The bed bug, Cimex lectularius, is a ubiquitous human ectoparasite with global distribution. Here, the authors sequence the genome of the bed bug and identify reductions in chemosensory genes, expansion of genes associated with blood digestion and genes linked to pesticide resistance.

Solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of infectious disease and have unique molecular pathophysiology. Here the authors use host-microbe profiling to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection and immunity in solid organ transplant recipients, showing enhanced viral abundance, impaired clearance, and increased expression of innate immunity genes.

Recent estimates of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) intake are generally unavailable. Here the authors show a global SSBs intake of 2.7 servings/week in 2018 in adults (range: 0.7 South Asia, 7.8 Latin America/Caribbean); intakes were higher among males, younger, more educated, and urban adults.

Isolation and optimization of antibodies targeting the malaria parasite may offer the potential for immediate protection as a prophylactic intervention to prevent severe disease.

An analysis based on data from the Global Dietary Database shows mean animal-sourced food intakes among children and adolescents increased modestly from 1990 to two portions per day in 2018, but remain low in sub-Saharan Africa, India and Bangladesh.

Fishing has had a profound impact on global reef shark populations, and the absence or presence of sharks is strongly correlated with national socio-economic conditions and reef governance.

Dense calcium imaging combined with co-registered high-resolution electron microscopy reconstruction of the brain of the same mouse provide a functional connectomics map of tens of thousands of neurons of a region of the primary cortex and higher visual areas.

Dietary quality is reported at the global, regional and national level across 185 countries. Though diet quality increased modestly since 1990 at the global level, in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa it did not improve. In some regions, children’s dietary quality is lower than that of adults.

Here the authors describe a method for remote magnetothermal stimulation of neurons that achieves subsecond behavioural responses in Drosophila fruit flies by combining magnetic nanoparticles with TRPA1-A, a rate-sensitive thermoreceptor. Tuning the properties of magnetic nanoparticles to respond to different magnetic field strengths and frequencies enables multichannel thermal magnetogenetic stimulation.

Conventional B cells express clonally specific antigen receptors, but a small subset of B cells from patients and mice with systematic lupus erythematosus simultaneously expresses two distinct antigen receptors. Here the authors show that these dual-specificity B cells have higher levels of MHC-II, depend on IL-21 for expansion, and mount stronger memory response.

Mutations in the E3 ubiquitin ligase parkin are associated with juvenile Parkinson’s disease. Here the authors report the solution structure of the Parkin RING2 domain, revealing how disease-associated mutations affect its function and providing a molecular explanation for the recessive nature of the disease.

Modeling analysis from the Global Dietary Database estimated that 70% of new global cases of type 2 diabetes are attributable to suboptimal intake of 11 dietary factors, with substantial differences in dietary risks across world regions and nations.

Biomphalaria glabrata is a fresh water snail that acts as a host for trematode Schistosoma mansoni that causes intestinal infection in human. This work describes the genome and transcriptome analyses from 12 different tissues of B glabrata, and identify genes for snail behavior and evolution.

The role of IgG glycosylation in the immune response has been studied, but less is known about IgM glycosylation. Here the authors characterize glycosylation of SARS-CoV-2 spike specific IgM and show that it correlates with COVID-19 severity and affects complement deposition.

Dust devils are common on Mars and understanding their dynamics is important to gain insights about the meteorology of the planet. Here, the authors show characteristics of a Martian dust devil and its sound from Perseverance rover multi-sensor data combined with modelling.

The InSight lander has expanded our knowledge of the atmosphere of Mars by observing various phenomena, including airglow, bores, infrasound and Earth-like turbulence.

A randomized trial in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 showed no benefit and potentially increased harm associated with the use of convalescent plasma, with subgroup analyses suggesting that the antibody profile in donor plasma is critical in determining clinical outcomes.

The effectiveness of protected areas under climate change is debated. Here, the authors analyse the potential effectiveness of protected areas for conserving over 70% of extant amphibian and reptile species under present and future climate scenarios.

The availability of relevant animal models that can recapitulate high-risk hepatoblastoma will help to better understand its pathogenesis. Here the authors report and characterize a hepatocyte-specific, MYC-driven hepatoblastoma mouse model and show it recapitulates the human hepatoblastoma pathophysiology.

Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) is still not well understood. Here the authors provide patient reported outcomes from 590 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and show association of PASC with higher respiratory SARS-CoV-2 load and circulating antibody titers, and in some an elevation in circulating fibroblast growth factor 21.