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The efficiency of selenium photovoltaics is hindered by the poor crystallization of the Se film. Wen, Li, Lu and colleagues use light to initiate Se crystallization, suppressing dewetting and enabling the formation of a continuous film, which achieves a certified efficiency of 10.3%.

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.

Achieving selective and precise modification of macromolecules under biocompatible conditions (such as aqueous solutions, mild temperatures, and neutral pH) remains a significant technical challenge. Here, the authors develop a photoinduced coupling reaction based on N-hydroxy naphthalimide esters, which is effective in biologically relevant conditions.

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.

A field trial succeeded in eliminating populations of the mosquito Aedes albopictus through inundative mass release of incompatible Wolbachia-infected males, which were also irradiated to sterilize any accidentally-released females, and so prevent population replacement.

Less is known about the entire microbial pathogen profile of small mammals. Here, the authors analyse 2,408 tissue-resolved metatranscriptomes to map the infectome in small mammals, uncovering high viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic diversity and showing how geography, hosts, and seasons shape zoonotic risk.

The CMS Collaboration reports the measurement of the spin, parity, and charge conjugation properties of all-charm tetraquarks, exotic fleeting particles formed in proton–proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider.

Vaccines are the most effective tool in managing infectious disease and characterizing features of protective epitopes could help in prediction methods. Here the authors use protein language and geometric deep learning frameworks to investigate primary sequence features and structural features to identify and predict potential antigens, showing prediction of a protective mpox epitope using this method.

A ductile inorganic-rich solid–electrolyte interphase that retains its structural integrity and allows easy ion diffusion enables a long cycle life under practical conditions for lithium metal batteries.

The synthesis of Ag⁺/Mo⁴⁺/Ln³⁺ co-doped double perovskite has yielded exceptional optical properties, including broadband excitation and highly efficient NIR luminescence. These advances demonstrate promise for versatile photoelectric applications and provide critical insights into optimizing lanthanide absorption by two-step enhancement strategy.

ALKBH8 is a tRNA methyltransferase, specifically modifying the wobble uridine (U34) in tRNAs. Here, the authors discover that ALKBH8 is a direct transcriptional target of β-catenin, and that mediates intestinal tumorigenesis through regulation of the translation of KRAS in a codon-dependent manner.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

Fang et al. demonstrate that OsHSFA4d enhances thermotolerance by activating HSP101 and promoting CslF6 expression, which suppresses disease resistance. It is phosphorylated by OsCDPK24/28, increasing its DNA binding ability under heat stress. This trade-off mechanism of abiotic/biotic stress may broadly exist in plant kingdom.

The use of biomarkers of ageing is crucial for investigating age-related processes. This Review discusses biomarkers of ageing and of ageing-associated physiological changes, at the cellular, tissue and organism levels in humans and non-human primates.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

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.

A meta-transcriptomic analysis of the viromes of 2,438 mosquitoes of 81 species from across China identifies geographic hotspots of mosquito virus diversity, links between mosquito virome composition and host phylogeny, and a suggestion of long-distance mosquito dispersal.

Xue-Jun Zhang, Jun Wang and colleagues identify mutations in MVK in disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis, a disorder characterized by defects in epidermal keratinization. MVK encodes mevalonate kinase, an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of cholesterol and isoprenoids.

A mechanical exfoliation method for producing freestanding metal oxide ultrathin flakes is reported. The flakes can be transferred and integrated with 2D materials, providing a platform to investigate the fundamental properties of ultrathin metal oxides.

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.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

Hou, Chen et al. show that aged bone marrow macrophages propagate senescence to multiple tissues in vivo, through extracellular vesicles containing PPARα-targeted microRNAs. They demonstrate the therapeutic potential of intervening in this process using the PPARα agonist fenofibrate.

Li Dong Wang and colleagues report a genome wide association study for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the Chinese population. They identify two risk loci at PLCE1 and C20orf54.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

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.

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.

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.

Limited whole genome sequencing (WGS) of Asian populations results in a lack of representative reference panels, hindering imputation of Asian ancestry-specific genetic variants. Here the authors use WGS data from 11,067 individuals across 17 Asian countries to create a new reference panel which shows improved imputation accuracy for South Asian populations.

Biobanks of genetic data have been primarily in European populations, which gives us an incomplete understanding of complex traits across populations. Here, the authors initiate the Westlake BioBank for Chinese (WBBC) pilot project with 4,535 whole genome sequences and 5,841 high-density genotypes from China, characterizing large-scale genomic variation in Chinese populations.

Suppressing surface Cs⁺ accumulation in methylammonium-free α-FA_1−xCs_xPbI₃ perovskite with an intermediate phase-assisted strategy enables high-efficiency and thermally stable photovoltaics.

Polyoxometalates (POMs) are molecular clusters with diverse structures. Here authors present the synthesis of POMs by Ce-mediated molecular tailoring from gigantic {Mo₁₃₂} into half-closed {Ce₁₁Mo₉₆}, with proton conductivity nearly two orders of magnitude higher than {Mo₁₃₂}.

The quark structure of the f₀(980) hadron is still unknown after 50 years of its discovery. Here, the CMS Collaboration reports a measurement of the elliptic flow of the f₀(980) state in proton-lead collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV, providing strong evidence that the state is an ordinary meson.

High-resolution computed tomography is used to reconstruct and analyse fossils of the herbivorous tritylodontid Polistodon and a newly named morganucodontid species called Camurocondylus, providing key insights into the evolution of the mammalian jaw joint.

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.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.