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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.

Large-effect variants in autism remain elusive. Here, the authors use long-read sequencing to assemble phased genomes for 189 individuals, identifying pathogenic variants in TBL1XR1, MECP2, and SYNGAP1, plus nine candidate structural variants missed by short-read methods.

Previous studies have shown the importance of unidirectionally aligned domain nucleation for the growth of 2D semiconductor single crystals. Here, the authors report the observation of a self-alignment process of misoriented domains during the metal-organic chemical vapour deposition growth of 2D MoS₂ on sapphire, leading to single-crystalline films with improved carrier mobility.

The enantioselective synthesis of S-stereogenic sulfinamides has garnered considerable attention due to their unique structural and physicochemical properties but catalytic asymmetric synthesis of sulfinamides still remains challenging. Here, the authors present the synthesis of S-stereogenic sulfinamides through the peptide-mimic phosphonium salt-catalyzed asymmetric skeletal reorganization of simple prochiral and racemic sulfoximines.

Tao et al. show that SCRN1 acts as a scaffold to facilitate GPX4 phosphorylation by STK38, thereby preventing chaperone-mediated autophagy of GPX4 and subsequent ferroptosis in patient-derived organoids and mouse models for hepatocellular carcinoma.

The application of catalytic dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation (DyKAT) in axial chirality is limited to fivemembered metalacyclic intermediate-directed equilibrium of substrate enantiomers. Here, the authors report a tetracoordinate boron-directed DyKAT of racemic, configurationally stable 3-bromo- 2,1-azaborines for the construction of C-B axial chirality.

Polysubstituted arenes are ubiquitous structural cores in natural products and drugs but their synthesis through programmable arene modification remains a challenge. Now, a palladium- and norbornene-catalysed Catellani-type reaction of aryl ketones, through successive acylation and deacylation, allows the synthesis of polysubstituted arenes.

1-(Isoquinolin-1-yl)naphthalen-2-ol (QUINOL) is an atropisomeric heterobiaryl that serves as a platform for the synthesis of other biaryl ligands useful in asymmetric catalysis. Here, the authors report a straightforward oxidative cross-coupling reaction between isoquinolines and 2-naphthols to efficiently access the QUINOL scaffolds in a metal-free manner.

A single-cell multiomic immune cell atlas from 235 Japanese, including patients with COVID-19 and healthy individuals, linked with host genetics including germline and somatic mutation, plasma proteomics and metagenomics data reveals that immune cells are dynamically regulated in a cell state-dependent manner.

Selective activation of specific C–F bonds in polyfluoroarenes remains a major challenge in organic synthesis. Now, a photoexcited nickel-catalysed cross-electrophile coupling between polyfluoroarenes and aryl chlorides has been developed. This enables highly selective arylation of atypical C–F sites, facilitated by a synergistic lithium salt effect.

A genome-wide association study highlights a variant in DOCK2, which is common in East Asian populations but rare in Europeans, as a host genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19.

XRISM observations show the presence of odd-numbered elements chlorine and potassium in Cas A. These findings suggest that stellar activity plays an important role in cosmic chemical evolution, enriching space with elements vital for planets and life.

Analysis of the blood DNA virome in patients with COVID-19 and autoimmune disease associates endogenous HHV-6 (eHHV-6) and high anellovirus load with increased disease risk, most notably for systemic lupus erythematosus. eHHV-6 carriers show a distinct immune response.

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.

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.

Genetic mechanisms influencing COVID-19 susceptibility are not well understood. Here, the authors analyzed whole blood RNA-seq data of 465 Japanese individuals with COVID-19, highlighting thousands of fine-mapped variants affecting expression and splicing of genes, as well as the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs.

Despite advances in polymer science, reversible formation and control of linear conjugation in polymer backbones remain elusive. Now, copolymerizing lactone-functionalized xanthene units with π-conjugated building blocks has been shown to produce polymers capable of reversible, stimuli-responsive conjugation switching, enabling tunable semiconducting behaviour and offering a promising strategy for designing smart, responsive polymeric materials.

The FANTOM4 study identified transcriptional start sites active during proliferation arrest and differentiation of the human monocytic cell line THP-1. Systematic knockdown of 52 transcription factors provide support for their model in which a complex transcriptional network regulates the differentiation process.

Mammalian genomes are scattered with repetitive sequences, but their biology remains largely elusive. Here, the authors show that transcription can initiate from short tandem repetitive sequences, and that genetic variants linked to human diseases are preferentially found at repeats with high transcription initiation level.

Here, authors develop an anti-counterfeiting device using semiconducting polymer nanoparticles embedded in photoresist thin films. The device exhibits high brightness, stability, and encoding capacity, with promising uniqueness and reliability under UV exposure, high humidity, and temperature variations.

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.

Tetracoordinate boron species are common radical precursors in organic synthesis, but the boron species are discarded as by-products. Herein the authors report a strategy to incorporate both the alkyl moiety and boron species into the eventual products, yielding organoboron compounds.

The Kibble-Zurek mechanism and finite-time scaling provide descriptions of the driven critical dynamics from gapped initial states. Here, the authors generalize these theories to Dirac systems accommodating gapless initial states.

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.

Developing convenient deuterium labeling procedures is important in organic synthesis and the pharmaceutical industry. Here, the authors report a mild photocatalytic strategy for controllable deuteration of halides using D₂O as the reagent and porous CdSe nanosheets as the catalyst.

Marine cyanobacteria contribute to global carbon balance by fixing CO₂ and the shift between CO₂ fixation and ATP production requires fine-tuning its metabolic fluxes to light–dark cycles. These cycles can be very short in marine environments due to sea currents and fast adaptation is key to avoid futile cycles. In this study, Lu et al. provide a mechanistic insight into how this process is tightly regulated.

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.

Multi-component cascade transformations including difunctionalization of two alkynes with both syn- and anti-selectivity in one catalyst system is challenging. Herein, the authors report a Nickel-catalyzed four-component reaction to access densely substituted 1,3-dienes using two terminal alkynes, aryl boroxines, and perfluoroalkyl iodides.

A combined copper- and palladium-catalysed atropselective arylboration of alkynes is reported. This method uses B₂pin₂ and sterically hindered aryl bromides for the stereoselective and regioselective synthesis of axially chiral tetrasubstituted alkenylboronates. Mechanistic studies reveal that the stereocontrol originates from a higher-order palladium intermediate.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 73 Japanese patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 75 healthy controls were analyzed using single-cell transcriptomics. Combining these data with genotyping data highlights the interplay between host genetics and the immune response in modulating disease severity.

Large-scale photochemical synthesis of high value chemicals is an ideal method of green chemical production. Here, the authors show the merging of heterogeneous carbon nitride photocatalysis with flow chemistry for the scalable organosynthesis of fine chemicals in a continuous flow reactor.

Photoresponsive molecular capsules that can be used in water are rare. Here, the authors construct polyaromatic nanocapsules via self-assembly from photoswitch-bearing amphiphilic molecules in water. Light induces a structural change in the amphiphiles, triggering the capsule to disassemble into monomers and release encapsulated guests.

Controlling the self-assembly of large coordination cages is challenging owing to entropic costs and difficulties in error correction. Now an array of large cages prepared by the rational design of alterations that allow for the tuning of the dihedral angle between pentagonal subunits is reported.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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