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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.

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.

Acid stress is an environmental factor shaping the structure and function of microbial communities. Here, the authors show that microbial interspecific interactions are highly dynamic during acid stress changes. They find slow-growing species promote population cooperation and coexistence under elevated acid stress.

A circular economy approach applied to the global lithium-ion battery supply chain shows that combining cross-regional cooperation on technology and trade with regionally tailored domestic circular economy policies yields the highest global emission reduction.

It is uncertain how much life expectancy of the Chinese population would improve under current and greater policy targets on lifestyle-based risk factors for chronic diseases and mortality behaviours. Here we report a simulation of how improvements in four risk factors, namely smoking, alcohol use, physical activity and diet, could affect mortality. We show that in the ideal scenario, that is, all people who currently smokers quit smoking, excessive alcohol userswas reduced to moderate intake, people under 65 increased moderate physical activity by one hour and those aged 65 and older increased by half an hour per day, and all participants ate 200 g more fresh fruits and 50 g more fish/seafood per day, life expectancy at age 30 would increase by 4.83 and 5.39 years for men and women, respectively. In a more moderate risk reduction scenario referred to as the practical scenario, where improvements in each lifestyle factor were approximately halved, the gains in life expectancy at age 30 could be half those of the ideal scenario. However, the validity of these estimates in practise may be influenced by population-wide adherence to lifestyle recommendations. Our findings suggest that the current policy targets set by the Healthy China Initiative could be adjusted dynamically, and a greater increase in life expectancy would be achieved.

The functional relevance of lysine crotonylation in cancer remains to be further explored. Here, the authors show that hypoxia-induced downregulation of PGK1 lysine crotonylation promotes glycolysis and suppresses mitochondrial pyruvate metabolism, contributing to breast cancer progression.

Mammalian gene expression is controlled by an RNA switch system.

Guided bone regeneration (GBR) membranes are used to treat bone defects, but face challenges in regulating the immune microenvironment. Here, Yang et al. report a Janus collagen-based barrier membrane that modulates the osteoimmune microenvironment to effectively promote bone regeneration.

Upon nutrient stress in hepatocellular carcinoma, the glycolytic enzyme PFKL facilitates mitochondria tethering to lipid droplets to engage lipid mobilization and ensure nutrient supply.

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.

Tao et al. show that epidermal growth factor receptor and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor activation enhances thymidine kinase 1 expression through ERK phosphorylation and deubiquitylation mediated by ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 9X, thus enhancing enzyme activity-dependent DNA synthesis and enzyme activity-independent glycolysis.

Evolution of accretion disk and corona during outbursts in black hole binary systems is still unclear. Here, the authors show spectral analysis of MAXI J1820+070 and propose a scenario of a dynamical corona to explain the evolution of the reflection fraction observed by Insight-HXMT.

Defect-free integration of 2D materials onto semiconductor wafers is desired to implement heterogeneous electronic devices. Here, the authors report a method to transfer high-quality graphene on target wafers via gradient surface energy modulation, leading to improved structural and electronic properties.

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.

Observational analyses from the China Kadoorie Biobank found that alcohol consumption was associated with higher risks of 61 diseases in Chinese men, with most of these associations confirmed by genetic analyses.

Volumetric additive manufacturing of protein scaffolds has a wide range of possible biomedical applications. Here the authors report on the bioprinting of unmodified silk sericin and silk fibroin inks with shape-memory and tuneable mechanical properties and demonstrate the potential of the inks in different applications.

The orientation of layered perovskites plays a crucial role in their charge transport behavior and hence, the efficiency of related solar cells. Here, the authors find that preformed 3D-like perovskites can efficiently template the growth of layered perovskites and determine their orientation.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

While vaccines have curbed the COVID-19 pandemic, effective therapeutic treatments are few, and might be challenged by SARS-CoV-2 variants. A biocompatible, antiviral two-dimensional nanomaterial is now reported that firmly adsorbs the virus by interaction with the spike protein, inducing the conformational changes that lead to inhibition of viral infection in vitro and in animal models.

Combining two global datasets, the authors show that peak vegetation growth has been increasing linearly for the past 30 years, with similar proportions of NDVI variation attributable to expanding croplands, rising CO₂ and intensifying nitrogen deposition.

Silver ions in wastewater are a major health hazard, and there is an urgent need to develop methods to reliably extract them. Here, the authors show that mixed-valence molybdenum oxide can selectively adsorb and reduce Ag⁺ from wastewater and be easily recycled while maintaining high selectivity towards Ag⁺.

High-resolution electron microscopy requires robust and noise-free substrates to support the specimens. Here, the authors present a polymer- and transfer-free direct-etching method for fabrication of graphene grids with ultraclean surfaces and demonstrate cryo-EM at record high resolution.

Jumping is an important locomotion function to extend navigation range, overcome obstacles, and adapt to unstructured environments. Here, authors demonstrate legless soft robot capable of rapid, continuous, and steered jumping based on a soft electrohydrostatic bending actuator.

The ratio of tumour area to metastatic lymph node area (T/MLN) is a clinical indicator that can improve prognosis prediction of gastric cancer. Here, the authors use machine learning on whole slide images to generate a method that can predict metastatic lymph nodes and obtain T/MLN.