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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).

We present James Webb Space Telescope observations that detect the 3.3 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon feature in a galaxy observed less than 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.

JWST observations of the Cosmic Gems arc resolve the light of an infant galaxy into five gravitationally bound star clusters located in a region smaller than 70 pc.

In wildlife tagging, stress from capture and handling can alter post- release behavior and potentially study interpretations. This study of 42 mammal species shows that these effects diminish within 4–7 days, and quicker for animals in high human activity areas indicating adaptation to disturbance.

Different functional variants in ADH1B (and elsewhere) in Europeans and Africans strongly affect risk for alcohol dependence. Dependence only partly genetically correlates with consumption, with strong correlations to other psychiatric disorders.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

A massive star at a redshift of 6.2, corresponding to 900 million years after the Big Bang, is magnified greatly by lensing of the foreground galaxy cluster WH0137–08.

Kedzierska et al. report an association between low production of receptor-binding domain antibodies after mRNA vaccination and altered glycosylation of IgG before vaccination in people with comorbidities, and show that this condition disproportionately affects Australia’s First Nations peoples because of the high burden of comorbidities in this population.

Patients with metastatic cancers of unknown primary (CUP) are currently unable to gain access to drugs through standard of care or clinical trials. Here, the authors perform whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing (WGTS) on 72 patients with CUP and demonstrate the feasibility of using WGTS to determine the specific cancer types of CUP, thereby clinically benefiting patients with CUP.

JWST mid-infrared images of the nearby star Fomalhaut reveal a complex system of dusty rings and disks, created as debris from planetesimal collisions. These structures suggest the presence of a complex and probably dynamically active planetary system.

Transcriptomic and proteomic profiling of blood samples from individuals with COVID-19 reveals immune cell and hematopoietic progenitor cell alterations that are differentially associated with disease severity.

Some antiseizure medications including valporate are associated with neurodevelopmental conditions in children exposed in utero but evidence is less clear for other drugs. Here the authors investigate associations between antiseizure medication use in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental conditions using electronic health record data from the UK and Sweden.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis of individuals with clinically assessed or self-reported depression identifies 44 independent risk loci. Comparisons with other psychiatric disorders and candidate gene analyses provide new insights into major depressive disorder.

Similarities in cancers can be studied to interrogate their etiology. Here, the authors use genome-wide association study summary statistics from six cancer types based on 296,215 cases and 301,319 controls of European ancestry, showing that solid tumours arising from different tissues share a degree of common germline genetic basis.

Distinguishing between different proteins that each bind to the same type of glycan is challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate that an enzymatically synthesised library of Lewis^x ‘glycofluoroforms’ that feature site-specific fluorination can discriminate closely related proteins.

The infrared view of JWST has opened up the early Universe to study. This Perspective summarizes the key developments in our understanding of the high-redshift Universe from the first 18 months of JWST observations.

Paul Pharoah and colleagues report the results of a large genome-wide association study of ovarian cancer. They identify new susceptibility loci for different epithelial ovarian cancer histotypes and use integrated analyses of genes and regulatory features at each locus to predict candidate susceptibility genes, including OBFC1.

A phase 2 randomized controlled trial of ustekinumab in 72 adolescents with recent-onset type 1 diabetes showed that treatment was well tolerated and β-cell function was 49% higher in the intervention group compared to the placebo arm after 12 months.

This study presents the first annual update of the indicator framework developed by the Food Systems Countdown Initiative, published in Nature Food in 2023. Almost half of all indicators show some desirable trends. Governance and resilience indicators were revealed as the most connected across themes, constituting entry points for transformative change.

A study of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in England between September 2020 and June 2021 finds that interventions capable of containing previous variants were insufficient to stop the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

Previous work has identified several genes where mutations lead to breast cancer, but other genetic and environmental factors must still be accounted for. A large study of genetic association with breast cancer points to four novel genes and many more genetic markers that should be pursued for their link to cancer susceptibility.

In yeast cells, short telomeres are preferentially elongated by the telomerase complex in a process that requires Tel1. Now low levels of telomerase inhibitory protein Rif2 and the absence of Mec1 are shown to mark short telomeres for Tel1 binding and elongation rather than double-strand break repair.

Environmental influences during prenatal development may have implications for health and disease later in life. Here, Czamara et al. assess DNA methylation in cord blood from new-born under various models including environmental and genetic effects individually and their additive or interaction effects.

Animals seem capable of an infinite variety of movement, yet also exhibit substantial stereotypy in repeated actions. A beautiful view of worm behaviour now shows that the worm’s state evolves deterministically but is bounced chaotically between unstable periodic orbits.

Whole-genome sequencing analysis of individuals with primary immunodeficiency identifies new candidate disease-associated genes and shows how the interplay between genetic variants can explain the variable penetrance and complexity of the disease.

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.

Breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers varies depending on other genetic factors. Here, the authors perform a case-only genome-wide association study and highlight novel loci associated with breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers.

Circulating tumour DNA profiling in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer can be used to track single-nucleotide variants in plasma to predict lung cancer relapse and identify tumour subclones involved in the metastatic process.

A genome-wide-association meta-analysis of 18,381 austim spectrum disorder (ASD) cases and 27,969 controls identifies five risk loci. The authors find quantitative and qualitative polygenic heterogeneity across ASD subtypes.

The next step after sequencing a genome is to figure out how the cell actually uses it as an instruction manual. A large international consortium has examined 1% of the genome for what part is transcribed, where proteins are bound, what the chromatin structure looks like, and how the sequence compares to that of other organisms.

Depression is correlated with many brain-related traits. Here, Shen et al. perform phenome-wide association studies of a depression polygenic risk score (PRS) and find associations with 51 behavioural and 26 neuroimaging traits which are further followed up on using Mendelian randomization and mediation analyses.

RNA sequencing data and tumour pathology observations of non-small-cell lung cancers indicate that the immune cell microenvironment exerts strong evolutionary selection pressures that shape the immune-evasion capacity of tumours.