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Two BCMA-targeted CAR T products, idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel) and ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel), have been approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM). Here the authors report distinct expansion, phenotype, function, and toxicity of cilta-cel vs. ide-cel CAR T cells in a realworld cohort of patients with MM.

John Chambers, Jaspal Kooner, Pim van der Harst, Shyong Tai, Paul Elliott, Jiang He, Norihiro Kato and colleagues performed a genome-wide association study of blood pressure phenotypes in individuals of European, East Asian and South Asian ancestry. They find trait-associated SNPs at 12 loci, some of which are associated with methylation at nearby CpG sites.

SARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to sustained increased macrophage numbers and formation of enlarged lipid-laden macrophages after viral clearance. This can be prevented with antiviral treatment in mice.

Analysis of mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) by using whole-genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancer samples across 38 cancer types identifies hypermutated mtDNA cases, frequent somatic nuclear transfer of mtDNA and high variability of mtDNA copy number in many cancers.

Efficient, large-scale genomic analysis is facilitated on the cloud by a computational tool with error-diagnosing and self-healing capabilities.

In lung cancer, relatively few germline mutations are known to impact risk. Here the authors looked at rare variants in 39,146 individuals and find novel germline mutations associated with risk, as well as implicating ATM and a new candidate gene for lung cancer risk.

Conversion of low-grade waste heat into electricity is an important energy harvesting strategy. Here, the authors fabricate carbon nanotube aerogel-based thermo-electrochemical cells, which are potentially low-cost and relatively high-efficiency materials for this application.

Trans-ethnic analyses of exome array data identify new risk loci for type 2 diabetes. Fine-mapping analyses using genome-wide association data show that the index coding variants represent the likely causal variants at only a subset of these loci.

The GLASS Consortium studies the evolutionary trajectories of 222 patients with a diffuse glioma to aid in our understanding of tumour progression and treatment failure

In mouse brain, neurotensin released into the basolateral amygdala by neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus assigns positive or negative valence during associative learning.

The mechanisms by which organisms adapt their growth according to the availability of oxygen are incompletely understood. Here the authors identify the Drosophila fat body as a tissue regulating growth in response to oxygen sensing via a mechanism involving Hph inhibition, HIF1-a activation and insulin secretion.

Estimates from the Global Dietary Database indicated that 2.2 million new type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cardiovascular disease cases were attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages worldwide in 2020, with the highest burdens in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Despite being a paradigmatic description of dissipative quantum dynamics, implementations of spin-boson models with trapped ions had limited tunability. Here, the authors demonstrate a trapped-ion quantum simulator of spin-boson dynamics with controllable bath spectral density, contributing towards scalable simulations of energy transfer processes.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

Glutathione has pleiotropic functions in different organs. Here the authors specifically examine deletion of a glutathione synthetic enzyme in the liver of adult mice and show that lack of glutathione affects lipid abundance through repressing NRF2.

The PSA (KLK3) genetic variant rs17632542 is associated with reduced prostate cancer risk and lower serum PSA levels, although the underlying reasons are unclear. Here, the authors show that this PSA variant reduced proteolytic activity and leads to smaller tumours, but also increases invasion and bone metastasis, indicating its dual risk association depending on tumour context; the variant is associated with both lower risk and poor clinical outcomes.

mTOR signalling regulates protein synthesis in response to changes in nutrient availability. Chang et al.demonstrate that mTOR can stimulate translation by promoting the shortening of mRNA 3′-untranslated regions, and that expression of ubiquitin ligases is selectively enhanced by this mechanism.

A case–control study investigating the causes of recent cases of acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in 32 children identifies an association between adeno-associated virus infection and host genetics in disease susceptibility.

This paper reports integrative molecular analyses of urothelial bladder carcinoma at the DNA, RNA, and protein levels performed as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas project; recurrent mutations were found in 32 genes, including those involved in cell-cycle regulation, chromatin regulation and kinase signalling pathways; chromatin regulatory genes were more frequently mutated in urothelial carcinoma than in any other common cancer studied so far.

FlyWire presents a neuronal wiring diagram of the whole fly brain with annotations for cell types, classes, nerves, hemilineages and predicted neurotransmitters, with data products and an open ecosystem to facilitate exploration and browsing.

Prostate cancer (PrCa) involves a large heritable genetic component. Here, the authors perform multivariate fine-mapping of known PrCa GWAS loci, identifying variants enriched for biological function, explaining more familial relative risk, and with potential application in clinical risk profiling.

The molecular mechanisms underlying tumour initiation remain elusive. Here, the authors use spatiotemporally controlled oncogene activation and tumour suppressor inhibition with multi-omics to unveil the role of YAP-mediated oral epithelial progenitor cell reprogramming into tumour-initiating cells.

Raman and fluorescence spectra, consistent with several species of aromatic organic molecules, are reported in the Crater Floor sequences of Jezero crater, Mars, suggesting multiple mechanisms of organic synthesis, transport, or preservation.

Stratified medicine promises to tailor treatment for individual patients, however it remains a major challenge to leverage genetic risk data to aid patient stratification. Here the authors introduce an approach to stratify individuals based on the aggregated impact of their genetic risk factor profiles on tissue-specific gene expression levels, and highlight its ability to identify biologically meaningful and clinically actionable patient subgroups, supporting the notion of different patient ‘biotypes’ characterized by partially distinct disease mechanisms.

The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network report integrated genomic and molecular analyses of 164 squamous cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas of the oesophagus; they find genomic and molecular features that differentiate squamous and adenocarcinomas of the oesophagus, and strong similarities between oesophageal adenocarcinomas and the chromosomally unstable variant of gastric adenocarcinoma, suggesting that gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma is a single disease entity.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

In the phase 2 study LCCC1520 (NCT02690558), clinical activity of pembrolizumab in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin as neoadjuvant therapy in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer has been reported. Here the authors present molecular and immune cellular features associated with response to neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy.

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data across 2,658 tumors spanning 38 cancer types shows that chromothripsis is pervasive, with a frequency of more than 50% in several cancer types, contributing to oncogene amplification, gene inactivation and cancer genome evolution.

Pooling participant-level genetic data into a single analysis can result in variance stratification, reducing statistical performance. Here, the authors develop variant-specific inflation factors to assess variance stratification and apply this to pooled individual-level data from whole genome sequencing.

This large integrated analysis of the KRAS^G12C inhibitor sotorasib clinical efficacy biomarkers from the phase 2 CodeBreaK 100 and phase 3 CodeBreaK 200 trials shows that low expression of TTF-1 and high expression of NRF2 determine anti-tumor efficacy of sotorasib in non–small-cell lung cancer.

Large genome-wide meta-analysis of clinically diagnosed late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) from 94,437 individuals identifies new LOAD risk loci and implicates Aβ formation, tau protein binding, immune response and lipid metabolism.

Linder et al. show how cancer cells reduce proline biosynthesis through P5CS to cope with glutamine starvation.

Laser spectroscopy measurements of the fermium isotopic chain show a smooth trend in the nuclear size of heavy actinide elements, and diminishing shell effects on the size evolution compared with lighter nuclei.

The CNV analysis group of the Psychiatric Genomic Consortium analyzes a large schizophrenia cohort to examine genomic copy number variants (CNVs) and disease risk. They find an enrichment of CNV burden in cases versus controls and identify 8 genome-wide significant loci as well as novel suggestive loci conferring either risk or protection to schizophrenia.

Case report of an individual heterozygous for a rare RELN-COLBOS variant that confers resilience, via a gain-of-function mechanism, to Alzheimer’s disease.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

Inspired by the art of kirigami, a haptic device based on a miniaturized electromechanical structure combined with skin as an elastic, energy-storing element demonstrates bioelastic state recovery and can be used in sensory substitution.

Roger Milne and colleagues conduct a genome-wide association study for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer combined with BRCA1 mutation carriers in a large cohort. They identify ten new risk variants and find high genetic correlation between breast cancer risk for BRCA1 mutation carriers and risk of ER-negative breast cancer in the general population.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis of individuals with clinically assessed or self-reported depression identifies 44 independent risk loci. Comparisons with other psychiatric disorders and candidate gene analyses provide new insights into major depressive disorder.

An analysis of 52 million births in 26 countries shows small reductions in preterm birth during the first to third months of lockdown. Further research is needed to examine causal pathways.

Chromosome 8q24 is known to be a major susceptibility region for prostate cancer risk. Here the authors analyze genetic data across the 8q24 region from 71,535 prostate cancer patients identifying 12 risk loci, three previously unreported, highlighting the contribution of germline variation at this locus.

High-performance optoelectronic devices that operate in the infrared regime at room temperature exhibit wide-range, active and reversible tunability of the operating wavelengths with black phosphorus.

The origin of SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactive T cells in unexposed humans is unclear. Here, the authors use HLA transgenic mouse models of sequential infections with human coronavirus OC43 and SARSCoV-2 and show that OC43 elicits cross-protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2, which partially depends on CD4 + T cells.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, Pattaro et al. conduct a meta-analysis to discover several new loci associated with variation in eGFR and find that genes associated with eGFR loci often encode proteins potentially related to kidney development.

Enzyme reactions at interfaces are common in both Nature and industrial applications but no general kinetic framework exists for interfacial enzymes. Here, the authors kinetically characterize 83 cellulases and identify a scaling relationship between ligand binding strength and maximal turnover, a so-called linear free energy relationship, which may help rationalize cellulolytic mechanisms and guide the selection of technical enzymes.

Analysis of HbA1c and FPG levels across 117 population-based studies demonstrates regional variation in prevalence of previously undiagnosed screen-detected diabetes using one or both measures and suggests that use of elevated FPG alone could underestimate diabetes prevalence in low- and middle-income countries.