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Julie Gould describes what happened after showing 50 images of working scientists to a bunch of 12–13 year-olds.

Exposome analyses across 34 countries showed that social exposures were associated with faster functional brain aging and physical exposures with faster structural brain aging.

Funding crises, bereavement and a supervisor’s relocation can derail your career path, but you can overcome them.

MAU2’s role in Cornelia de Lange syndrome was unclear. Here, the authors identify pathogenic MAU2 variants that disrupt NIPBL–MAU2 function, define MAU2‑specific episignatures, and show variable CdLS‑related phenotypes, supported by a Mau2 knockout mouse model.

Analyses of snRNA genes in a French cohort of people with rare disorders, with validation through international collaboration, identify monoallelic and biallelic variants in RNU2-2 as frequent causes of neurodevelopmental disorders with epilepsy.

A new cerebrospinal fluid biomarker, AcTau174, was elevated in frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TAR DNA-binding protein (FTLD-TDP), distinguishing this pathology from FTLD-Tau, and was associated with disease severity and progression in FTLD-TDP.

Decreased brain volumes and increased NfL levels can be observed earlier than disease diagnosis in short-tandem-repeat-associated neurological diseases.

A large-scale study on the replicability of claims from social and behavioural science journals reports that about half of the results replicate in the same patterns as the original study.

Having too rigid a plan could result in exciting opportunities passing you by, warns Ottoline Leyser.

Identification of genetic variants associated with the efficacy and side effects of GLP1 medications could underpin development of precision medicine approaches in the treatment of obesity.

This study detects Chlamydia pneumoniae in human retina and brain, increasing with AD severity. Retinal pathogen load with Aβ₄₂ may predict AD stage. In models, infection drives Aβ deposition and NLRP3 activation, worsening pathology and cognition.

Genome-wide analysis coupled with long-read sequencing identifies a repeat expansion in GOLGA8A associated with high risk for atypical frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin-positive inclusions.

A study of reproducibility in a stratified random sample of 600 papers published from 2009 to 2018 in 62 journals spanning the social and behavioural sciences finds higher reproducibility among more recent papers and papers from journals that require data sharing.

Gamma delta T cells as a therapeutic strategy have shown great promise in a range of contexts. Here the authors explore the use of a gamma delta T cell therapy in experimental models of cytomegalovirus infection.

Lipid biomarker and stable carbon isotope analysis of absorbed food residues in prehistoric pottery from the Libyan Sahara has identified the first adoption of dairying practices in Neolithic Africa in the fifth millennium bc.

In the Uspallata Valley, agriculture was adopted by local populations, as evidenced by genetic continuity from earlier hunter-gatherers to farmers; maize-dependent groups from the same regional population later experienced stress and demographic decline and likely used social organization and migration as resilience strategies.

UnitMatch tracks neurons in electrophysiological recordings across multiple recording sessions. UnitMatch relies on the spike waveform and allows tracking neurons even when their functional properties change such as during memory formation.

The APOE-ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not deterministic. Here, the authors show that common genetic variation changes how APOE-ε4 influences cognition.

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.

MK-7762 is a new oxazolidinone antitubercular agent that is structurally similar to linezolid, and demonstrated in vivo efficacy, lesion penetration and limited toxicity compared to linezolid, indicating it could be used in broad tuberculosis regimens.

This paper presents an active pixel power control (APPC) to minimize crosstalk in all-optical neural interrogation. Tested in vivo, APPC suppresses optogenetic artifacts while preserving Ca2+ imaging quality, enabling precise neural circuit analysis.

Tubulin mutations cause a group of disorders named tubulinopathies. Here, the authors show that specific variants in the tubulin TUBB impair primary cilia formation, putting forward primary cilia defects as a pathogenic factor in some tubulinopathy cases.

The small GTPase Arf6 regulates intracellular transport, phosphoinositide signalling and cholesterol homeostasis. Here, Marquer et al. show that loss of Arf6 causes cholesterol accumulation in endosomes due to defects in phosphoinositide-dependent retromer-mediated trafficking of CI-M6PR and NPC2.

Southern Ocean microbial communities are less well studied. Here, the authors generate a circumpolar-scale gene catalog from 218 metagenomics samples revealing broadscale uniqueness and water-mass–specific adaptations of the Southern Ocean microbiome.

Rathmell and colleagues show that metabolic reprograming of regulatory T cells is associated with severity of critical illness in patients with and without sepsis.

China is looking to lure young materials researchers from other nations, but its trade war with the US could hamper collaboration and innovation.

Rizzollo et al. show that BDH2 participates in iron distribution between cellular compartments, which sets the threshold for the ferroptosis vulnerability of the melanoma cell phenotypes, ultimately affecting their metastatic capacity

Wind variability, turbine wake effects, and extreme events are not just challenges but opportunities to deepen our understanding of the atmosphere and enhance the resilience of wind energy systems, argues Julie Lundquist.

Papaya is a trioecious species with XX females, XY males, and XY^h hermaphrodites, and the combination of Y and Y^h chromosomes is lethal. Here, the authors identify the degeneration of the YY lethality gene on the Y chromosome as the causal balancing lethal factor that reenforces dioecy and stabilizes balanced sex ratios.

De novo and inherited dominant variants in genes encoding U4 and U6 small nuclear RNAs are identified in individuals with retinitis pigmentosa. The variants cluster at nucleotide positions distinct from those implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders.

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).

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are well known breast cancer predisposition genes, however, many variants have not yet been classified for their pathogenicity. Here, the authors analyse a large combined cohort to provide evidence of variant pathogenicity.

Interactions between long RNA molecules play essential roles in shaping gene regulation. Here, the authors show that low-complexity repeats drive stable contacts between RNAs and present RIME, a deep learning model that improves the prediction of these interactions using sequence information.

Increasingly disturbed by potential risks and sceptical of the claimed benefits, green activists want an end to the scientific uncertainties in risk assessment. But, argues Julie Hill from the UK's Green Alliance, this also requires a broad consensus on what actually constitutes environmental harm.

In this article, the authors characterise genetic variation in CARTaGENE, a population-based cohort from Quebec, Canada. This genomic resource enables population and disease genetic studies in a founder population and other under-represented groups.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

Characterization of the genetic architecture underlying the 7 pairs of contrasting traits studied by Mendel and the over 70 additional agronomic traits in pea (Pisum sativum) reveals their molecular details and provides tools for further studies in pea genetics, functional genomics and crop improvement.

This study reports a maturation-dependent requirement for transferrin receptor -mediated iron uptake in pancreatic β-cells, whereby iron deficiency disrupts metabolic integrity and survival in developing cells but not in mature β-cells. The results show iron is a cue for β-cell maturation.

Both environmental factors and genetic factors influence human immunity. Albert and colleagues leverage data from the Milieu Intérieur Consortium to comprehensively describe the effects of lifestyle, environment and genetics on human innate and adaptive immunity.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

A bivalent biparatopic nanobody penetrates the brain, binds to and potentiates the activity of homodimeric metabotropic glutamate receptor 2, correcting cognitive deficits in two preclinical mouse models with endophenotypes resulting from NMDA receptor hypofunction.

A Perspective summarizes advances in the research of plant diversity, and discusses how big data resources and new technologies, such as analytical and integrating tools, are revolutionizing our views of plant diversification and guiding conservation.

Auxin-inducible degradation (AID) is a powerful tool for degrading target proteins in live organisms. Here, the authors develop the AID system to provide more precise, quantitative control over single or multiple tissue-specific target proteins.

Reconstructing microbial genomes from 820 reef-building corals collected at 99 reefs across 32 islands throughout the Pacific Ocean highlights the importance of conserving coral reefs as vital reservoirs of molecular diversity.

How the nervous system controls social behaviours of bees is poorly understood. This study finds that social feeding of male honeybees is hardwired into the nervous system by the fruitless (fru) gene, and that expression of this transcription factor is restricted to the nervous system of males.

An atlas highlights the heterogeneity of adipose tissue vasculature, identifies distinct endothelial subpopulations and provides insights into their contributions to metabolic disease.