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Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) exhibit inverse transition behavior with temperature and salt stimuli, often accompanied by a conformational change, but whether this transition can be detected for short ELPs immobilized on surfaces remains underexplored. Here, the authors develop a sensing platform based on the electrochemical activity of tyrosine to show conformational changes of newly designed, tethered, short ELPs with different hydrophobicity on gold working electrodes, probing the effect of conformational changes on the oxidative current using cyclic voltammetry.

tRNA‑derived RNAs transmit paternal epigenetic information, yet their regulation is poorly defined. Here, the authors demonstrate RNST‑2–mediated tDR processing in C. elegans sperm, showing how tDRs shape early embryonic gene expression and adaptive traits in progeny.

Optical initialization and read-out of nuclear spins with a spin coherence time of 2 ms in a Eu³⁺ molecular crystal is demonstrated with radio-frequency control, providing coherent nuclear spin manipulation for quantum information technologies.

When 100 social and behavioural science claims were examined, 34% of reanalyses closely matched the original results, with 74% reaching the same conclusion, revealing limited robustness of single-path analyses and the need to address analytical uncertainty.

A study of reproducibility in a stratified random sample of 600 papers published from 2009 to 2018 in 62 journals spanning the social and behavioural sciences finds higher reproducibility among more recent papers and papers from journals that require data sharing.

Single-nucleus chromatin and RNA sequencing identifies epigenetic chromatin domains that confer vulnerability to paediatric brain tumours such as ependymomas, providing insight into the development of such tumours despite ‘quiet’ genomes.

Native state proteomics of PV interneurons revealed unique molecular features of high translational and metabolic activity, and enrichment of Alzheimer’s risk genes. Early amyloid pathology exerted unique effects on mitochondria, mTOR signaling and neurotransmission in PV neurons.

Analysis of sequencing data from rare disease cohorts identifies biallelic variants in RNU2-2 underlying a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy associated with reduced U2-2 abundance and clinically distinct from the dominant RNU2-2 disorder.

Longitudinal metatranscriptomics in a prospective cohort of 1,164 adults hospitalized for COVID-19 reveals that azithromycin offered no apparent anti-inflammatory benefit but enriched the respiratory microbiome with potential pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes.

Clostridium perfringens lacking perfringolysin O toxin isolated from preterm infants metabolizes human milk oligosaccharide disialyllacto-N-tetraose to produce metabolites that promote the growth of commensal bifidobacteria, inhibit pathogens and suppress inflammation in an organoid model.

Age-related microbiome changes increase medium-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria, driving GPR84-mediated myeloid inflammation, impaired vagal signalling and hippocampal dysfunction; targeting this gut–brain pathway restores memory in aged mice.

A deep-learning approach applied to routine CT scans is used to quantify the health of the thymus in a cohort of patients with cancer, and shows that thymic function is associated with immunotherapy outcomes.

Multiple copies of intact MSR nucleate de novo heterochromatin and reveal that the establishment of mouse pericentric heterochromatin is associated with bidirectional repeat RNA, Integrator complex engagement, and topological alterations.

Saccadic eye movements during free viewing exhibit patterns that reflect a strategy to increase neural responses by matching motor behavior with the statistics of the natural world and with the processing limitations of sensory systems.

Ibiza, an island in present-day Spain, was under Islamic rule between the 10^th and 13^th centuries CE. Here, the authors analyse the remains of thirteen individuals from medieval Islamic burials in Ibiza, describing their ancestries and pathogens.

Genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies 58 independent risk loci for major anxiety disorders among individuals of European ancestry and implicates GABAergic signaling as a potential mechanism underlying genetic risk for these disorders.

Evo 2 is an artificial intelligence-based biological foundation model trained on 9 trillion DNA base pairs spanning all domains of life that predicts functional properties from genomic sequences and provides a rich generative model for researchers in biology.

Here, the authors introduce information isotopes, a novel framework for tracing unauthorized training data in black-box AI systems, offering a practical tool for auditing data provenance and protecting data rights.

Germline and somatic interactions define actionable genomic patterns driving acquired therapy resistance in breast cancer.

Maurice et al. examine how cytokines regulate antigen-independent activation of memory CD8⁺ T cells. They show that IL-4 signaling changes the quality of the bystander T cell response by antagonizing IL-18 sensing and subsequent IFNγ production, but increasing granzyme B expression without changing perforin, thereby limiting bystander-mediated protection.

AF2BIND is a logistic regression model trained on AlphaFold2 pair features to predict small-molecule binding-site residues in proteins, without multiple sequence alignments, homology models or knowledge of the true ligand. AF2BIND was used to predict binding sites across the AF2-predicted human proteome, finding thousands of potentially new ligandable sites.

Electron transfer in molecular wires is typically dominated by tunnelling at short lengths. Now it is shown that conjugated molecular wires anchored to indium tin oxide electrodes exhibit a hopping mechanism even at 1-nm lengths, enabling charge extraction in tin perovskite solar cells and improved device performance.

Southern Ocean microbial communities are less well studied. Here, the authors generate a circumpolar-scale gene catalog from 218 metagenomics samples revealing broadscale uniqueness and water-mass–specific adaptations of the Southern Ocean microbiome.

In this study, the authors identify a collaboration between the epigenetic regulators, EZH2 and DNA methyltransferase that contributes to prostate cancer lineage reprogramming.

A human spinal cord organoid model can replicate two different types of spinal cord injury and can be used as an in vitro system to evaluate therapeutics and inflammatory reactions to treatments.

This multidisciplinary response to investigate the large outbreak of unknown febrile illness in the Panzi Health Zone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in late 2024 suggests that the outbreak was largely associated with malarial cases and concurrent viral respiratory infections.

Graphene nanoribbons show promise for high-performance field-effect transistors, however they often suffer from short lengths and wide band gaps. Here, the authors use a bottom-up synthesis approach to fabricate 9- and 13-atom wide ribbons, enabling short-channel transistors with 10⁵ on-off current ratio.

Kinks are topological solitons and central to many physical systems. Here, the authors experimentally demonstrate control and generation of zero-energy kinks in a topological mechanical metamaterial via acoustic waves and numerically show rich acoustic-wavekink dynamics in highly discrete systems.

Coupling two ionic thermoelectric effects in n-type materials is scarce, restricting the development of high-performance systems. Here, the authors present an ionic-thermoelectric material with interactive thermo-diffusion/galvanic coupling effect based on coordination chemistry.

Subcellular compartmentalization of the glycolytic enzyme PFKM regulates cell fate and metabolic switch during skeletal muscle differentiation.

Thermogenetics enables spatiotemporal control of protein activity using temperature. Now, engineering of a compact, insertable thermoresponsive protein module diversifies the classes of proteins amenable to allosteric thermoregulation.

Acute depletion of NIPBL reveals a class of chromatin loops that are independent of NIPBL for their maintenance but not their establishment and that NIPBL is necessary for the expression of lineage-defining genes.

This multicenter study demonstrates use of dried and capillary blood as a minimally invasive, scalable approach for Alzheimer’s biomarker testing in research, with potential as a widely scalable population-based research approach, especially in resource-limited settings.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.

Donahue et al. show that ageing is associated with changes in ER morphology. ER-phagy drives age-associated ER remodelling through tissue-specific factors.

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.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

LARGE1 glycosyltransferase synthesizes matriglycan (xylose-glucuronate)_n on dystroglycan, and short matriglycan can cause neuromuscular disorders. Authors show that LARGE1 processively polymerizes matriglycan of defined length on prodystroglycan.

By mapping the function of every building in 109 Chinese cities, this study uncovers strong spatial disparities in services and infrastructure and provides a new dataset for understanding urban development.

A pangenome of oat, assembled from 33 wild and domesticated oat lines, sheds light on the evolution and genetic diversity of this cereal crop and will aid genomics-assisted breeding to improve productivity and sustainability.

Neuroscience research struggles to link neurobiological phenotypes with real-world mental health experiences, especially in youth. Here the authors challenge assumptions in functional neuroimaging studies, proposing alternative methods that reveal complex, individual-specific brain patterns, enhancing predictive models of psychiatric issues and advancing the understanding of adolescent mental health.

Climate policy portfolios reduce emissions but not fast enough for Paris Agreement goals. This study analyses 43 countries (2000–2022) and finds that specialised instruments, long-term targets, and dedicated governmental bodies are linked to faster emission cuts.