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Structural variants are an underexplored source of genetic diversity. Here, the authors use phased pangenome graphs to improve detection of these variants in dairy cattle and link these variants to traits of economic importance.

Precise and efficient CRISPR genome editing requires specialized delivery systems. Here, the authors develop Coomassie lipidoids that deliver purified adenine base editors into retinal tissues, making it possible to achieve robust genome editing with a defined, non-viral nanomedicine.

Authors find a twin-spin state in antiferromagnets, quantifies its magnetic octupole spin–orbit torque, and shows that it enables exceptionally long-distance spin transport beyond conventional spin currents.

Butenolides are important features of many bioactive compounds but known butenolide biosynthetic pathways are complex and challenging to harness. In this study, the authors report that avenolide, a 4-alkylbutenolide that regulates avermectin production in Streptomyces avermitilis, is assembled from a fatty acyl thioester by a multifunctional flavoenzyme and an iterative cytochrome P450.

Researchers show that twisting SnS₂ nanosheets and anchoring single Ni atoms strengthens spin-orbit coupling, reshaping CO₂ photoreduction to favor ethane by generating and coupling methyl radicals from CO₂ and water.

Femtosecond X-ray solution scattering reveals how solvent environments direct the outcome of ultrafast roaming reactions in bromoform, determining whether transient hot isomers undergo rapid solvolysis or rearrange into long-lived isomeric products.

The authors realize two- and three-site Kitaev chains in semiconducting quantum dots coupled via superconductors and tune them to the sweet spot where zero-energy Majorana modes appear at the chain ends. To assess Majorana localization, they couple the system to an additional quantum dot.

The longevity of leaves determines the overall duration of photosynthesis for plants. This study suggests that climate change drives leaf longevity convergence toward intermediate ranges, which, by altering leaf traits and enhancing photosynthetic capacity, strengthens ecosystem stability and is closely linked to vegetation diversity.

Using the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, the authors show that earthquake-triggered landslides increased mountain carbon storage by ~10% from 2008 to 2020, as vegetation recovery and sediment burial retained carbon, revealing earthquakes and landslides function as long-term carbon capacitors.

Identifying jets originating from heavy quarks plays a fundamental role in hadronic collider experiments. In this work, the ATLAS Collaboration describes and tests a transformer-based neural network architecture for jet flavour tagging based on low-level input and physics-inspired constraints.

Van der Waals materials of the MB₂T₄ family (M = transition metal or rare-earth metal, B = Bi or Sb, T = Te, Se, or S) have attracted interest for their magnetic and topological properties, but their direct synthesis into 2D form remains challenging. Here the authors report a flux-assisted, phase-controlled growth strategy to directly grow six magnetic 2D MB₂T₄ crystals.

Spatiotemporal coordination of cellular and molecular events is crucial for cell fate commitment. Here, Yang et al. describe how transcription factors, signaling pathways, and epigenomic states regulate left-right patterning and axial mesendoderm lineage commitment during mouse gastrulation.

From 2014–2017, marine heatwaves caused global mass coral bleaching, where the corals lose their symbiotic algae. The authors find, this event exceeded the severity of all prior global bleaching events in recorded history, with approximately half the world’s reefs bleaching and 15% experiencing substantial mortality.

The STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory demonstrates evidence of spin correlations in \(\Lambda \bar{\Lambda }\) hyperon pairs inherited from virtual spin-correlated strange quark–antiquark pairs during QCD confinement.

It is unclear whether the harsh abiotic conditions of drylands hinder biological invasions. This global analysis shows that drylands are vulnerable to non-native plants and are likely to become more so as native plant diversity declines and grazing pressure intensifies.

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.

Fanjiang Kong, Zhixi Tian, Xingliang Hou, Baohui Liu and colleagues report the cloning and functional characterization of J, the locus underlying the long-juvenile (LJ) trait that has enabled tropical cultivation of soybean. They show that J, an ortholog of Arabidopsis ELF3, downregulates the expression of E1, thereby promoting flowering under short-day conditions.

Liquid crystal elastomers have potential as 4D-printing actuators, but it is difficult to achieve complex shape changes in structures. Here, the authors report a 4D-printing strategy that combines vat polymerization-based 3D printing with a two-stage UV-curable resin.

Silicon anodes promise much higher battery capacity but are limited by poor storage life. This work identifies key ageing mechanisms and suggests ways to improve long-term stability.

The authors consider the changing sensitivity of the leaf-onset date to temperature (S_T) for boreal deciduous broadleaf forests. S_T increased between 1982–1996 and 1998–2012—potentially linked to enhanced chilling accumulation—but this increase is underestimated in phenology models.

The lowest-frequency gravitational wave background may be shaped by supermassive black hole binaries that scatter nearby stars or dark matter. In this case, the NANOGrav 15-year dataset favours dense galactic centres with 10⁶ solar masses per cubic parsec.

cellSTAAR advances noncoding rare variant association analysis by integrating single-cell genomics data.

A measurement strategy is described that is able to read out the parity of minimal two-site Kitaev chains in real time, by coupling two Majoranas and resolving their quantum capacitance.

Understanding the electric double layer of liquid–electrode interfaces is essential for understanding electrochemical processes. Now it has been shown that structure-dependent water dissociation and hydroxyl adsorption at step sites dictate the double-layer capacitance and potential of zero charge, directly linking model single crystals with practical platinum electrodes.

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

By combining satellite observations with ground-based data and expert validation, this analysis demonstrates considerable misestimation of grassland extent and thereby carbon stock estimates in previous global assessments based on remote sensing.

Native top-down proteomics reveals epidermal growth factor receptor–estrogen receptor-alpha (EGFR–ER) signaling crosstalk in breast cancer cells and dissociation of nuclear transport factor 2 (NUTF2) dimers to modulate ER signaling and cell growth.

Artificial intelligence applied to brain magnetic resonance imaging could transform neurological care. Here the authors present BrainIAC, a foundation model that can be used across diverse clinical tasks with limited training data.

The nature of the defects in amorphous materials, analogous to vacancies and dislocations in crystals, remains a matter of debate. Scalliet et al. show that localized and extended defects coexist in a wide range of conditions, yet are associated with distinct energy scales in a prototypical glass model.

Catalytic breakdown of highly persistent fluorinated pollutants is hindered by limited proton availability and catalyst degradation. This study shows that in situ proton-supplying sites enable low-temperature, long-lasting decomposition of stubborn PFAS gas.

Researchers studied the blood-based metabolome of over 23,000 people from ten ethnically diverse cohorts. They identified 235 metabolites associated with future risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). By integrating genetic and modifiable lifestyle factors, their findings provide insights into T2D mechanisms and could improve risk prediction and inform precision prevention.

Smc5/6 association with DNA junctions can support genomic functions. Here, the authors show that Smc5/6 junction polarity preferences, targeting, and dwell times are determined by its structural modules as well as the RPA and PCNA genomic factors.

Bacteria use diverse defence systems against phages, including a 164-residue prophage-encoded protein, Rip1, which senses conserved phage assembly rings to form membrane pores that block virion maturation and trigger premature host cell death.

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.

Stone tools illustrate behavioural complexities in Middle Pleistocene hominin populations. Here, the authors present small dimensional flakes and hafted tools from Xigou, central China, dated to ~160–72 thousand years ago that demonstrate early, complex technological advancements.

Induction of CD11b-positive regulatory B cells and low expression of CD40 in melanoma cells have been associated with resistance to agonist CD40 (aCD40) and immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Here the authors show that the addition of RAS/MEK/PI3K inhibitors to aCD40 abrogates these effects and reverses ICB resistance in preclinical melanoma models.

Bioactivity-guided isolation of specialized metabolites is an iterative process. Here, the authors demonstrate a native metabolomics approach that allows for fast screening of complex metabolite extracts against a protein of interest and simultaneous structure annotation.

CO₂-driven warming reduces phosphorus availability in rice paddies by promoting its binding with iron and organic carbon in the soil, according to a ten-year experiment using a free-air CO₂ enrichment system to simulate in situ climate warming.

Noradrenergic circuits support and balance aggressive behavioural states in predatory nematodes, distinguish predatory from non-predatory nematode species and are associated with the evolution of complex behavioural traits.

Root-knot nematodes locate host plants by sensing microbial volatiles shaped by plant defence metabolites, revealing a surprising ecological link between plant chemistry, soil microbes and parasite behaviour in the rhizosphere.

Phage therapy is an alternative treatment against biofilm-associated infections. In this case report, phage-antibiotic therapy was used to treat a vascular graft infection caused by a refractory fluoroquinolone non-susceptible Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The extreme hot and dry conditions of 2023 reduced soil respiration and enhanced net forest carbon sequestration in Canada, offsetting wildfire emissions, according to satellite-based and in situ observations of CO₂ fluxes.

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.

The magnitude of the increase in global river flow between 1980 and 2014 is 13.6% lower than Earth system models estimate and is expected to be 9.3% lower in the future, according to an analysis of emerging constraints on the components of the water cycle.

This study uses single-nucleus RNA sequencing to analyze lung tissue from 141 individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Distinct patterns of spatially resolved changes in cell composition and cell states that correlate with clinical features are highlighted.

Precise editing of DNA methylation has emerged as a promising tool in disease biology but most applications are limited to in vitro systems. Here, we develop two transgenic mouse lines harboring an inducible dCas9-DNMT3A or dCas9-TET1 editor to enable tissue-specific DNA methylation editing in vivo.

JWST’s COSMOS-Web survey is used to create an ultra-high-detail dark matter map, revealing hidden filaments, clusters and distant structures. By tracing features out to z = 2, this map shows how dark and luminous matter build the cosmic web across cosmic time.

A single-cell epigenomic atlas of human immune cells highlights cell-type-specific features associated with genetic or environmental exposures.

Here the authors show that persistent antigen stimulation drives the generation of CD8⁺ tissue-resident exhausted T cells with distinct developmental origins, function and therapeutic responsiveness when compared to CD8⁺ tissue-resident memory T cells.