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Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

Cryo-electron microscopy suggests a model in which microtubules, rather than adaptors in the cytoplasm, act as the primary platform for dynein–dynactin assembly, while LIS1 stabilizes low-microtubule-affinity intermediates near the pre-assembled complexes.

Regulation of alveolar macrophage function requires further investigation. The authors here show that EI24, elicited by commensal microbiota, decreases alveolar macrophage phagocytosis and inflammatory responses against lung infection and tumor metastasis, whereas targeting EI24 enhances anti-viral and anti-tumor effects of macrophages.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

ADAR1 is an adenosine deaminase that acts on double-stranded RNA. Orkin and colleagues show that ADAR1 protects hematopoietic stem cells from interferon-induced insult and is needed to maintain long-term hematopoiesis.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

Ketone α-alkylation at the more hindered site is challenging. Here, the authors report a highly regioselective nickel-catalysed allylic alkylation of unsymmetrical ketones at the more-hindered α-site with allylic alcohols.

In a prespecified interim analysis of the randomized, double-blind phase 3 COMPASSION-15 trial, patients with advanced HER2-negative gastric/GEJ cancer treated with the anti-PD-L1/CTLA-4 bispecific Ab cadonilimab plus chemotherapy showed significantly improved overall survival compared with patients treated with placebo plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment.

Decreased temperatures lengthen C. elegans lifespan by mechanisms that are not fully understood. Here the authors show that autophagy activation contributes to lifespan extension at low temperatures and that this involves adiponectin receptor PAQR-2 signaling.

The performance of 2D photodetectors in the near-infrared range is usually constrained by fundamental limits. Here, the authors report hybrid photodetectors based on 2D MoS₂/WSe₂ heterostructures integrated with plasmonic metasurfaces, exploiting anapole states to enhance the responsivity and improve their chiral discrimination ratio in the telecommunication range.

The existence of a long-lived, prethermal regime in many-body systems with tunable heating rates, driven by structured random protocols, is observed using a 78-qubit superconducting quantum processor.

Both the pyrroloindoline core and N–CF3 moiety hold significant importance in medicinal chemistry. Herein, the authors present a simple approach to assembling such intriguing skeletons from tryptamine-derived isocyanides through a cascade sequence, which includes an oxidative trifluorination and a subsequent halogenative cyclization.

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.

Rap1 is a telomeric protein that is highly expressed in cancers. Here, the authors show that Rap1 interacts with several DNA repair proteins independent of its telomere function to enhance DNA repair and that its deficiency leads to accelerated tumorigenesis, but enhanced sensitivity to genotoxic stress.

The role of coagulation system in erythropoiesis is not clear. Here, the authors report that an anticoagulant protein TFPI from erythroblasts directs central macrophages to synthesize heme, which in turn promotes erythropoiesis in bone marrow.

A modular nanobody-based approach assembles combination vaccines by stably attaching diverse antigens to hepatitis E virus-like particles, preserving native immunogenicity and inducing broad protection against respiratory pathogens.

Harvesting bio-mechanical energy is a promising route to powering wearable electronics, however design obstacles remain. Here the authors report on a triboelectric nanogenerator with optimized materials and design that can sustainably power an electronic watch and fitness tracker solely by human motion.

Waveplates are used in optoelectronics to alter the polarization of light, but they do not typically perform achromatically, which is important for applications such as three-dimensional displays. Here, biologically inspired periodically multilayered structures are produced, which function as achromatic visible-light waveplates.

In this Perspective, members of the Aging Biomarker Consortium outline the X-Age Project, an Aging Biomarker Consortium plan for building standardized aging clocks in China. The authors discuss the project roadmap and its aims of decoding aging heterogeneity, detecting accelerated aging early and evaluating geroprotective interventions.

A lab-scale proof-of-principle demonstration of a quantum network comprising one server chip and 20 client photonic chips implementing twin-field quantum key distribution shows excellent scalability and reliability and yields a pathway towards future large-scale networks.

Xuejun Zhang and colleagues report a genome-wide association and replication studies for psoriasis, conducted in Chinese populations. They confirm previous associations in MHC and IL12B to psoriasis susceptibility, and report a new association within the LCE gene cluster at 1q21.

Intermittent fasting (IF) has been recognized as a potential cancer therapeutic approach but its effect on tumor growth is limited. This study demonstrates that response to IF varies between glioblastoma subtypes, with IF specifically inhibiting Tp53-driven glioblastoma due to a reshaping of the gut microbiota and subsequent altered methionine metabolism suppressing TGF- β signaling.

Cong et al. show that MTSS1 suppresses breast cancer initiation by promoting ubiquitin-mediated suppression of the NF-κB pathway. Loss of this regulatory mechanism promotes the activation and expansion of tumor-initiating cells.

The HKU25 clade MERS-related coronaviruses with broad distribution are shown to use ACE2 as a functional receptor, revealing unexpected receptor plasticity and offering new insights into coronavirus evolution, host range and potential zoonotic risk.

Single cell sequencing can be used to better characterize immune cell progenitors. Here the authors characterize CLEC12A^hi pre-basophils downstream of pre-basophil and mast cell progenitors (pre-BMPs) but upstream of mature basophils and this population includes basophil progenitors (BaPs).

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have improved our understanding of the genetic basis of lung adenocarcinoma but known susceptibility variants explain only a small fraction of the familial risk. Here, the authors perform a two-stage GWAS and report 12 novel genetic loci associated with lung adenocarcinoma in East Asians.

Zhan et al. report a host energy level engineering strategy to modulate trap depth in organic host-guest systems, achieving persistent luminescence up to 27 hours and energy storage for 14 days. 4×4 electroluminescent arrays based on the host-guest system demonstrate pixel-programmable information storage capabilities.

A recombinant adeno-associated virus system for restricted gene expression in brain endothelial cells enables cerebrovascular disease modelling.

This study demonstrated that different types of HC-Pros from potyviruses exhibit varying capacities to inhibit HEN1. This results in distinct levels of autophagic AGO1 degradation, which in turn leads to differences in RNA silencing suppression efficiency.

The immunomodulatory functions of mast cells (MCs) within the tumor microenvironment are elusive. Here, the authors present a transcriptomic characterization of LUAD-infiltrating MCs and identify a proinflammatory subset that contributes to the activation of cytotoxic MAIT cells by secreting IL-18 via NRLP3 activation and pyroptosis, ultimately boosting anti-tumor immunity.

Kwak et al. report that adherens junctions organize membrane microdomains, leading to lipid-dependent γ-secretase recruitment and size-dependent protein segregation, excluding full-length Notch receptor.

Lithium metal offers high specific capacity but suffers from dendrite growth and poor cycling stability. Here, authors develop a 3D Li-Zn-Li3N/CNT composite combining ductile Li-Zn alloy and a mechanically robust Li3N-CNTs network, enabling thin, durable electrodes with uniform lithium deposition, demonstrating a pouch-cell with a specific energy of 553 Wh kg-1.

It is uncertain how much life expectancy of the Chinese population would improve under current and greater policy targets on lifestyle-based risk factors for chronic diseases and mortality behaviours. Here we report a simulation of how improvements in four risk factors, namely smoking, alcohol use, physical activity and diet, could affect mortality. We show that in the ideal scenario, that is, all people who currently smokers quit smoking, excessive alcohol userswas reduced to moderate intake, people under 65 increased moderate physical activity by one hour and those aged 65 and older increased by half an hour per day, and all participants ate 200 g more fresh fruits and 50 g more fish/seafood per day, life expectancy at age 30 would increase by 4.83 and 5.39 years for men and women, respectively. In a more moderate risk reduction scenario referred to as the practical scenario, where improvements in each lifestyle factor were approximately halved, the gains in life expectancy at age 30 could be half those of the ideal scenario. However, the validity of these estimates in practise may be influenced by population-wide adherence to lifestyle recommendations. Our findings suggest that the current policy targets set by the Healthy China Initiative could be adjusted dynamically, and a greater increase in life expectancy would be achieved.

China operates a national surveillance program for acute respiratory infections and sampled over 200,000 patients between 2009–2019. Here, the authors present results from this program and describe patterns by age, pathogen type, presence of pneumonia, and season.

Robotic surgery has been demonstrated to improve short-term outcomes for patients with gastric cancer who received a gastrectomy, but the long-term effects are less clear. Here, the authors report the survival outcomes of their phase 2 randomized controlled trial comparing robotic to laparoscopic distal gastrectomy in patients with resectable gastric cancer.

Here, Imamuraet al. conduct meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies to identify novel susceptibility loci for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the Japanese population. By doing so, this study shows that both ethnicity-specific and ethnically-shared genetic loci can contribute to T2D risk.

Cytokines of the IL-1 family have a range of effects on innate lymphoid cells. Liu and colleagues find that IL-1 facilitates the maturation and plasticity of group 2 innate lymphoid cells.

Conditional knockout of LARP4 in naive CD4⁺ T cells leads to attenuated quiescence exit and clonal expansion.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.