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Production of aromatic monoterpene molecules in hop flowers is affected by genetic, environmental, and processing factors. Here, the authors engineer brewer’s yeast for the production of linalool and geraniol, and show pilot-scale beer produced by engineered strains reconstitutes some qualities of hop flavor.

Microrobotics is an emerging innovation with promising applications in food safety, quality control and processing. This Review highlights recent advances in microrobotic design, materials and actuation strategies, and discusses their potential applications, limitations and integration in the food industry.

The effects of climate change on the yield and aroma of beer hops remains unknown. Here the authors demonstrate a climate-induced decline in the quality and quantity of traditional aroma hops across Europe and calls for urgent adaptation measures to stabilize international market chains.

Krisai et al. compare brain structure and cognitive function in elderly patients with and without atrial fibrillation using brain MRI and cognitive testing. They find that atrial fibrillation is associated with more brain lesions and lower cognitive function, but the cognitive impairment occurs primarily through direct effects of the arrhythmia rather than through brain damage.

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

High-depth sequencing of non-cancerous tissue from patients with metastatic cancer reveals single-base mutational signatures of alcohol, smoking and cancer treatments, and reveals how exogenous factors, including cancer therapies, affect somatic cell evolution.

Synthetic Biology often lacks the predictive power needed for efficient bioengineering. Here the authors present ART, a machine learning and probabilistic predictive tool to guide synthetic biology design in a systematic fashion.

The light concentrating properties of single p-i-n GaAs nanowires are shown to result in far greater photocurrent densities than expected under one sun illumination. The results suggest that such cells could in principle operate with power conversion efficiencies beyond the Shockley–Queisser limit.

Wastewater-based surveillance tends to focus on specific pathogens. Here, the authors mapped the wastewater virome from 62 cities worldwide to identify over 2,500 viruses, revealing city-specific virome fingerprints and showing that wastewater metagenomics enables early detection of emerging viruses.

A live-attenuated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine based on one-to-stop codon modifications can elicit broad, systemic and mucosal immunity, as well as reduced transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in vivo.

Here, in a longitudinal case study, Weigang et al. demonstrate that evolution of SARS-CoV-2 within a persistently infected immunosuppressed patient can result in the emergence of novel variants with reduced sensitivity to antibody neutralization.

Measurements of the inelastic cross section of anti-³He allow the estimation of the transparency of the Milky Way to the propagation of these light antinuclei produced in either cosmic-ray collisions or annihilation of dark-matter particles.

The Alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2 outcompetes progenitor SARS-CoV-2 in upper respiratory tract replication competition in vivo.

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).

Here authors identify GluN2D-containing NMDA receptors on interneurons as a specific target for rapid antidepressant action. Blocking GluN2D restores stress-impaired plasticity and mimics the effects of ketamine with fewer side effects.

The A.27 SARS-CoV-2 lineage spread globally in 2021 but did not become dominant. Here, the authors show that A.27 shares some mutations in the spike gene that are present in variants of concern, but lacks the D614G mutation, indicating independent evolution of immune escape properties.

Infection studies on highly pathogenic avian influenza virus clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 on calves and lactating cows indicate that transmission occurs primarily via milk and milking procedures rather than respiratory routes.

Rational design was used to develop a suite of red-shifted, bioconjugatable heptamethine cyanine dyes for multiplexed in vivo imaging in the shortwave-infrared/near-infrared-II region.

The yeast Saccharomyces uvarum is commonly used in wine fermentation, yet its natural history is poorly known. Here, Almeida et al. report high genetic diversity in South American S. uvarum, and show introgression from S. eubayanusand over-representation of genes related to fermentation in domesticated strains.

A small-molecule iron mobilizer, FeM-1269, minimally higher-order aggregates in aqueous media and effectively mobilizes iron across a range of concentrations. FeM-1269-promoted iron mobilization restores physiology in animals at well-tolerated doses.

This study shows that changes in ocean gateways near the end of the Mesozoic (~66 Ma) altered global ocean salinity and circulation, reshaping climate patterns through combined reconfigurations in the Arctic and Central American regions.

An investigation using various methods reports an association between adeno-associated virus 2 and paediatric hepatitis of unknown aetiology.

In this study, the authors report that bat H9N2 influenza A virus replicates and transmits in ferrets, efficiently infects human lung explant cultures, evades MxA antiviral activity in mice, and has low antigenic similarity to seasonal N2, meeting pre-pandemic criteria.

Taxonomically identifiable DNA can be recovered from terrestrial rocks containing as little as 182 ppm of total organic carbon after exposure to radiation equivalent to 136 million years on Mars, suggesting that biosignatures could remain detectable.

Here the authors show efficacy of a low-dose, unmodified, bivalent mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 variants in two female rodent models and find that combination of mRNA encoding Beta and Delta Spike sequences induces broadly neutralizing antibodies and robust T-cell responses.

Rubromycin family of natural products belongs to aromatic polyketides with diverse bioactivities, but details of their biosynthesis are limited. Here, the authors report the complete in vitro reconstitution of enzymatic formation of the spiroketal moiety of rubromycin polyketides, driven by flavin-dependent enzymes, and characterize reaction intermediates.

Analysis of soundscape data from 139 globally distributed sites reveals that sounds of biological origin exhibit predictable rhythms depending on location and season, whereas sounds of anthropogenic origin are less predictable. Comparisons between paired urban–rural sites show that urban green spaces are noisier and dominated by sounds of technological origin.

Distinguishing band and Mott insulators experimentally represents a longstanding challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate a momentum-resolved signature of a dimerized Mott-insulator in the out-of-plane spectral function of Nb₃Br₈.

RSPT enables 3D imaging of tissues with label-free molecular contrast at mesoscale resolution. Here, the authors demonstrate its effectiveness in visualizing complex phantoms and tissue heterogeneities.

Analysis of RNA polymerase hallmark gene phylogenies supported by protein structure relationships of flaviviruses and ‘flavi-like’ viruses underpins the taxonomic expansion and reorganization of Flaviviridae.

An expert-elicitation process identifies current methodological barriers for monitoring terrestrial biodiversity, and how technological and procedural development of robotic and autonomous systems may contribute to overcoming these challenges.

By combining the use of photoswitchable photoinitators and intersecting light beams, objects and complex systems can be produced rapidly with higher definition than is possible using state-of-the art macroscopic volumetric methods.

Environmental impacts of water use affect the sustainability of food production. The impacts of water use associated with self-selected diets in the United States are estimated here based on the types and quantities of foods in the diet, the irrigation water required to produce those foods and the relative scarcity of water in the regions where that irrigation occurs. Food substitutions offer opportunities to reduce these water impacts.

How is acetyl-CoA produced in the context of the endogenous, eukaryotic pyruvate dehydrogenase complex metabolon? Here the authors dissect the embedded transacetylase reaction through biochemical, cryo-EM, HADDOCKing and molecular dynamics methods.