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In this Viewpoint article, we asked four female scientists to describe their experiences of gender representation during their scientific careers and to identify the challenges and possible solutions to empowering women in cancer research and science more generally.

A biochemical study discovers that the target site preferences of the DNA methyltransferase DNMT3C differ from its relatives DNMT3A and DNMT3B and they specifically match the biological repeat elements methylated by DNMT3C.

Systematic analysis and machine learning coupled with in vitro and in vivo validation link gut microbiome-mediated transformation of dietary phytonutrients to health outcomes.

Mass spectrometry can accurately identify species by molecular mass, but measuring large species can be difficult. Here the authors show that nanomechanical resonators can identify both the mass and stiffness of larger analytes, demonstrating it for gold nanoparticles and E. Colibacteria.

Leonie Sandercock’s five-decade career has been instrumental in shaping and shifting the field of urban planning to recognize and incorporate feminist, indigenous and intercultural worldviews and to pursue social, cultural and environmental justice. Her World View reflects on the importance of local, community-engaged action to grow ‘beloved community’ with an ethos of interconnectedness.

The level of CREB expression and activity predicts whether long-term memory will decline or improve with age after life-extending strategies.

COVID-19 can be associated with neurological complications. Here the authors show that markers of brain injury, but not immune markers, are elevated in the blood of patients with COVID-19 both early and months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in those with brain dysfunction or neurological diagnoses.

Pharmacological inhibition of gamma-secretase induced partial recovery of hearing in animal models. Here, the authors present the safety and efficacy results and key learnings of the First in Human Phase I/IIa study of a gamma-secretase inhibitor in patients with acquired Hearing Loss.

Built of bacterial biofilm proteins, aquaplastic is a biodegradable material that can easily be processed from a hydrogel state into bulk materials, is resistant to acids, bases and organic solvents, and is easily healable and weldable in water.

The neural basis of individual differences in episodic memory performance is not well understood. Here, the authors show in a large fMRI dataset that activity of the hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex accounts for individual variability in memory performance.

The study introduces NXT2 as a candidate gene for male infertility and shows that the encoded protein is involved in RNA nucleocytoplasmic transport in human testis by interacting with the RNA export factor NXF1 and proteins of the nuclear pore complex. NXT2 also interacts with the human testis-specific NXF1 paralogues NXF2 and NXF3. Mutations in NXT2 and NXF3 are linked to a disruption of nuclear export, leading to defective germ cell development and human male infertility.

A consensus cell type atlas for the fly brain provides both an intellectual framework and open-source toolchains for brain-scale comparative connectomics.

The anti-ageing factor Klotho modulates cognition independently of its effects on ageing.

A large international panel of experts reach consensus on a new standard for reporting settings in psychedelic trials, identifying 30 key non-pharmacological factors to strengthen the rigor of psychedelic research.

How can your thymus continue to generate the necessary numbers of CD4⁺CD25⁺ regulatory T (T_Reg) cells once it involutes? Arne Akbar and colleagues propose a model whereby some T_Regcells differentiate from rapidly proliferating memory T cells in the periphery.

Miniature optomechanical disks could be used as ultrafast and ultrasensitive fluidic sensors due to the combination of their high-frequency vibrations, small mass and low dissipation in liquids.

Regional variations in aerobic glycolysis in young adults correlate spatially with amyloid-β deposition in older individuals.

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).

The molecular landscape of breast cancer brain metastases (BCBM) is still understudied, especially for different breast cancer subtypes. Here, the authors characterise subtype-specific BCBMs using genomics and transcriptomics and identify homologous recombination deficiency as a key therapeutic vulnerability.

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.

Brain clearance mechanisms are challenging to visualize in humans. Using magnetic resonance imaging, the authors noninvasively mapped cerebrospinal fluid motion across the brain, showing region-specific drivers in healthy participants and altered dynamics in cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Diffraction-before-destruction of ultrashort X-ray pulses can visualize non-equilibrium processes at the nanoscale with sub-femtosecond precision. Here, the authors demonstrate how the brightness and the spatial resolution of such snapshots can be substantially increased despite ionization.

A single-cell transcriptomic atlas from embryonal pons and forebrain provides insights into the developmental origins of pediatric brain tumors. The study identifies impaired differentiation of specific neural progenitors as a common mechanism underlying these cancers.

Astrocytic Ca²⁺signalling in response to neural activity only occurs in astrocytes from developing brains.

Adult neurogenesis occurs in the human striatum.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is the second most common cause for heart failure. Here the authors combine CRISPR base editors with the muscle-targeting viral vector AAVMYO to repair patient mutations in the cardiac splice factor Rbm20 in two mouse models.

Lipochitooligosaccharide (LCO) perception by legumes is required to establish symbiotic relationships with nitrogen fixing bacteria. Here the authors show that nutrient starvation can activate LCO perception in cereals to promote symbiotic association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

Rodent eradication programme planned for South African island to protect seabirds.

A structural MRI study suggests that regular exercise training induces plasticity in hippocampal subregions also in young adults. Hippocampal plasticity correlates with changes in spatial memory precision.

A comprehensive analysis of models of brain metastasis and multiple cohorts of patient samples identifies a targetable molecular mechanism underlying the resistance to whole-brain radiotherapy that can inform patient selection for personalized radiotherapy.

Achieving fast, sensitive and room temperature detection of terahertz waves remains a formidable scientific and technological challenge. Here, the authors propose a compact terahertz device combining concepts from metamaterial resonators, optomechanics and semiconductor nanotechnology.