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Although extrapulmonary complications of different organ systems are recognized in patients with severe COVID19 effects are less well studied. Here, Qiao et al. characterize the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 on bone metabolism in Syrian hamster and find that bone loss is associated with virus-mediated cytokine dysregulation.

This study demonstrates the capability of deep learning protein design models in generating functionally validated β-strand pairing interfaces, expanding the structural diversity of de novo binding proteins and accessible target surfaces.

Mutations in the insulin receptor cause severe insulin resistance, but their functional impact is often unclear. Here, the authors map ~14,000 receptor variants, linking molecular defects to disease and highlighting variants responsive to therapeutic activation.

Weak transitions have a prominent role in optical clock devices and fundamental physics tests but are challenging to resolve due to the unfavourable scaling of the cross section with transition strengths. Here, the authors demonstrate enhanced cross sections due to beyond single-photon excitations in He atoms, facilitating applications in precision spectroscopy.

Panoptes, an anti-phage defence system against virus-mediated immune suppression, is revealed.

The domestic dog is an important model organism for our understanding of cancer and other diseases. Here the authors conduct a genome-wide association study across multiple breeds and identify novel loci significantly associated with several complex diseases and morphological traits.

A pangenome analysis of 76 wild and domesticated barley accessions in combination with short-read sequence data of 1,315 barley genotypes indicates that allelic diversity at structurally complex loci may have helped crop plants to adapt to agricultural ecosystems.

Here, the authors perform a large-scale, high-throughput biochemical assay to determine the compatibility of over 300,000 domain recombination variants of the inward rectifier K⁺ channel Kir2.1. They derive rules for designing domain insertion variants that fold and traffic to the cell surface and conclude that the insertion of domains at protein termini is evolutionary favoured.

Engineered living materials harness the computational power of biology to control interesting material properties. Here the authors leverage complex transcriptional regulation of bacterial extracellular electron transfer to control hydrogel cross-linking with Boolean logic.

Ionic liquid additives increase the power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells, but their effect on perovskite crystallization remains unclear. Xu et al. provide mechanistic insights and demonstrate improved operational stability under continous illumination and 90 °C thermal stress.

Coronaviruses exploit the host caspase-6 to cleave coronavirus nucleocapsid protein into fragments with interferon-antagonizing activity to facilitate virus replication.

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).

Tsirigotaki et al. unveil how adipokine Leptin induces trimerization of the Leptin receptor to form a cytokine-receptor assembly critical to body weight regulation, immunity, fertility and cancer.

Experiments in a hamster model of COVID-19 and human airway epithelial cells show that the spike N501Y mutation is the major determinant of increased fitness of the B.1.1.7 Alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2.

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.

The SARS-CoV-2 variant expressing spike(D641G) shows increased infectivity in human lung epithelial cells and in hamster and primary human upper airway tissues, but is more susceptible to neutralization by antibodies raised against SARS-CoV-2.

Biosensors are powerful tools for quantification of a wide range of molecules but require extensive engineering for each analyte. Here, the authors engineered a robust environmental bacterium for sensing a diverse set of chemicals, such as lactate and PET degradation products, via growth-coupling

A genome-wide association study of critically ill patients with COVID-19 identifies genetic signals that relate to important host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage that may be targeted by repurposing drug treatments.

A live-attenuated COVID vaccine could enrich the current vaccine portfolio. Here, Liu et al. engineer a live-attenuated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate by deleting four viral accessory genes and show immunogenicity and protection in mice and hamsters.

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.

Long Fung Chau and colleagues report the generation of transgenic pigs expressing human ACE2, and show that they exhibit clinical signs and immunopathology consistent with COVID-19 following infection with SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that human ACE2 transgenic pigs are a viable large animal model for COVID-19.

Metabolic engineering guided by laboratory evolution enables upcycling of nylon by Pseudomonas putida.

The efficiency of organic blends used for photovoltaic applications depends on their ability to convert photoexcited charges into free holes and electrons. It is now demonstrated that the lowermost energetic states formed at the donor/acceptor interface can reach conversion efficiencies close to 100%, and therefore do not behave as traps for charge carriers.

This work quantifies the impact of sound ordinances on the wind energy capacity in the United States. It finds existing sound ordinances reduce the capacity by 8% over standard setbacks and explores impacts of other hypothetical ordinance scenarios.

Yao et al. observe and characterize genomic redistribution of the PBAF complexes upon PBRM1 loss, leading to sustained RELA occupancy by SMARCA4, activation of the NF-kB pathway and enhanced kidney tumourigenesis.

Long-term BA.5-specific efficiency of booster vaccination is incompletely understood. Here, analyzing immunity to and efficacy of various COVID-19 vaccination regimens in Syrian hamster, the authors found that heterologous boosting provides more durable immunity and that NVX-CoV2373 provides the strongest boosting effect.

Opium poppy accumulates alkaloids in the specialized cytoplasm of laticifers known as latex. Here the authors show that the binding of alkaloids to the abundant major latex proteins triggers quaternary structural modification that mediates a functional role for protein aggregation.

Plant roots can respond to the environment by modifying cell type development. Here, the molecular pathways controlling root exodermal suberin are defined, as is its role in drought response. Modulating exodermal suberin levels can be a target for improved plant environmental resilience.

Trials in rhesus macaques show that a subunit vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, comprising the spike protein receptor-binding domain displayed on a nanoparticle protein scaffold, produces a robust protective response against the virus.

Ecological network research has typically focused on flows of matter and energy, but species also exchange information signals and cues that influence behaviour and movement. This Perspective argues that the information network of nature is a crucial aspect of community organization.

Cryo-EM structures of somatostatin 14- and octreotide-bound somatostatin receptor 2 reveal a flexible extracellular domain for recognizing different ligands and, together with functional assays, identify the basis of SSTR subtype selectivity.

Whole-genome sequencing and phenotype data sharing are introduced in a national health system to streamline diagnosis and to discover coding and non-coding variants that cause rare diseases.

A diverse, multidisciplinary panel of 386 experts in COVID-19 response from 112 countries provides health and social policy actions to address inadequacies in the pandemic response and help to bring this public health threat to an end.

Chromosome-scale sequence assemblies of 20 diverse varieties of barley are used to construct a first-generation pan-genome, revealing previously hidden genetic variation that can be used by studies aimed at crop improvement

Genetic engineering of material-producing bacteria creates pigmented products.

Inhibition of fatty acid biosynthesis re-sensitizes colistin-resistant clinically relevant bacteria in vivo by inducing stress responses and altering membrane composition.

Zebrafish can regenerate after paralyzing spine injuries and regain locomotor ability, unlike mammals. Here authors show that the neurogenic factor Hb-egf promotes spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish and is regulated by an enhancer that can similarly direct expression in the pro-regenerative setting of neonatal mice.

Using a neural network trained on bacterial growth inhibition data, in silico prediction of molecules with activity against Acinetobacter baumannii led to the identification of the narrow-spectrum abaucin, which perturbs lipoprotein trafficking.

Mutation of the nuclear envelope protein, barrier-to-autointegration factor 1 (Banf1), has previously been associated with the development of ageing associated diseases in a human progeria syndrome. Here, the authors reveal the functional link between Banf1-regulated, PARP1-directed repair of oxidative lesions.

Bacterial cellulose is a promising cheap-to-produce programmable engineered living material. Here the authors present a method for production of spheroids for use as engineerable building blocks able to sense and respond to chemical inputs.