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De novo and inherited dominant variants in genes encoding U4 and U6 small nuclear RNAs are identified in individuals with retinitis pigmentosa. The variants cluster at nucleotide positions distinct from those implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders.

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).

Using proximity-based screening, protein engineering, and structural analysis, this study describes the development of a p62-based biodegrader for the clearance of organelles and aggregated proteins by autophagy-targeted degradation.

The largest plant family, Asteraceae, forms an iconic component of many island floras. Here, the authors conduct a macroecological review, showing that Asteraceae have a truly global distribution on islands and are the most diverse plant family on oceanic islands.

The earliest known human burial in Africa, that of a young child, is dated to around 78,000 years ago.

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.

Sobkowiak et al., present a comprehensive genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Peru from 2020 to 2024, highlighting the emergence and spread of key variants including Lambda and Gamma P.1.12. The work provides valuable insights into regional viral transmission dynamics in a high-burden, middle-income setting, emphasizing the importance of sustained genomic surveillance.

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

A standardized checklist of all known vascular plants shows the distribution of island native and endemic species, identifies their conservation status and highlights the need for actions to conserve them.

Here the authors apply machine learning approaches to Alzheimer’s genetics, confirm known associations and suggest novel risk loci. These methods demonstrate predictive power comparable to traditional approaches, while also offering potential new insights beyond standard genetic analyses.

Structurally convergent antibodies targeting the conserved influenza HA anchor epitope have provided a template for next-generation vaccine development. The authors identified four anchor antibodies encoded by diverse germline genes with broad neutralizing activity against influenza H1N1 viruses.

In this Stage 2 Registered Report, Buchanan et al. show evidence confirming the phenomenon of semantic priming across speakers of 19 diverse languages.

Aspartate in the tumour environment activates the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor in cancer cells to induce cellular programmes that increase the aggressiveness of metastasis.

Hyperfine splitting was measured using the laser spectroscopy of accelerator-produced hydrogen-like bismuth ions. This demonstrates the feasibility of such measurements with other exotic ions with low production yields in a storage ring.

CYLD is a deubiquitinase known to act as a tumour suppressor in different models of carcinogenesis. Here, the authors show that CYLD suppresses carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis by deubiquitinating p53 and promoting its stabilization and activation in response to DNA damage.

Daily location data on the individuals of 14 migratory marine species from 2000 to 2009 allow annual migratory cycles to be mapped to the time spent in the high seas and the exclusive economic zones of specific countries, providing a basis for international management strategies for these species.

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.

Integration of GWAS and single-cell transcriptomic data from the entire nervous system systematically identifies cell types underlying brain complex traits and provides insights into the etiology of Parkinson’s disease.

Here, de Vries et al. perform a pre-clinical characterization of the antimalarial compound MMV693183: the compound targets acetyl-CoA synthetase, has efficacy in humanized mice against Plasmodium falciparum infection, blocks transmission to mosquito vectors, is safe in rats, and pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling informs about a potential oral human dosing regimen.

Recurrent de novo mutations at nucleotide positions 4 and 35 of RNU2-2 cause a neurodevelopmental disorder whose prominent features include intellectual disability, developmental delay and a complex seizure phenotype.

Following a wide-ranging review of studies, reports and policies about nature’s multiple values, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation of nature, address barriers to uptake in decision-making, and make transformative changes towards more just and sustainable futures.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori, often found in the human stomach, can be classified into distinct subpopulations associated with the geographic origin of the host. Here, the authors provide insights into H. pylori population structure by collecting over 1,000 clinical strains from 50 countries and generating and analyzing high-quality bacterial genome sequences.

A cross-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci, reveals putative causal genes, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as potential drug targets, and provides cross-ancestry integrative risk prediction.

Known genetic loci account for only a fraction of the genetic contribution to Alzheimer’s disease. Here, the authors have performed a large genome-wide meta-analysis comprising 409,435 individuals to discover 6 new loci and demonstrate the efficacy of an Alzheimer’s disease polygenic risk score.

Factors limiting CNS remyelination with age are poorly understood. Here the authors show that aged Treg lose capacity to support CNS remyelination in mice, which can be restored in a young environment.

On the oceanic island of Tenerife, dispersal, speciation and persistence drive the diversity and distribution of plant functional traits.

Intensifying agriculture can, in theory, spare nature from agricultural expansion. This study finds that intensification is not sparing tropical dry forests generally, but is in areas with widespread Indigenous land stewardship.

Improvements in European freshwater biodiversity occurred mainly before 2010 but have since plateaued, and communities downstream of dams, urban areas and cropland were less likely to experience recovery.

Combined analysis of new genomic data from 116 ancient hunter-gatherer individuals together with previously published data provides insights into the genetic structure and demographic shifts of west Eurasian forager populations over a period of 30,000 years.

Biomedical data is accumulating at a fast pace and integrating it into a unified framework is a major challenge. Here, the authors present a resource that contains pre-calculated biomedical descriptors derived from a very large knowledge graph.

The authors defined a roadmap for investigating the genetic covariance between structural or functional brain phenotypes and risk for psychiatric disorders. Their proof-of-concept study using the largest available common variant data sets for schizophrenia and volumes of several (mainly subcortical) brain structures did not find evidence of genetic overlap.

This Resource describes genetic tools for microbial eukaryotes, providing a roadmap for developing genetically tractable organisms.

Fernández Villalobos, Marsall et al. analyzed seroprevalence and antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants and endemic coronaviruses in Colombian children from urban and indigenous populations. They find high SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence with comparable antibody titers but low neutralizing capacity and limited cross-protective immunity.

Analysis of HbA1c and FPG levels across 117 population-based studies demonstrates regional variation in prevalence of previously undiagnosed screen-detected diabetes using one or both measures and suggests that use of elevated FPG alone could underestimate diabetes prevalence in low- and middle-income countries.

Safety and efficacy remain important challenges for non-antiretroviral-based microbicides. Here, Derby et al. show that a Griffithsin-Carrageenan fast dissolving vaginal insert provides on-demand protection against SHIV infections in macaques, paving the way for the development of pre-exposure prophylaxis on-demand products.

A lossless, one-shot and privacy-preserving distributed algorithm was revealed for fitting linear mixed models on multi-site data. The algorithm was applied to a study of 120,609 COVID-19 patients using only minimal aggregated data from each of 14 sites.

Drug and target discovery for advanced liver disease are hampered by a lack of suitable models for clinical translation. Here the authors present a human liver cell-based system modeling a clinical prognostic signature allowing to propose nizatidine for treatment of advanced liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma prevention.

Polygenic risk scores for Alzheimer’s disease derived from individuals of European ancestry can show improved performance in multiancestry settings after incorporating genome-wide association summary statistics from diverse populations.

There is currently no disease-modifying treatment for Parkinson’s disease, a common neurodegenerative disorder. Here, the authors use genetic variation associated with gene and protein expression to find putative drug targets for Parkinson’s disease using Mendelian randomization of the druggable genome.

Evidence synthesized from 252 large-herbivore exclusion studies suggests that herbivore-induced change in dominance, independent of site productivity or precipitation, best predicts herbivore effects on biodiversity in grassland and savannah sites.

Increasing variability of net biome production over recent decades may be due to climate change and points to destabilization of the carbon–climate system.

Liu et al. report that the IL-6R antibody reduces the atherosclerosis promoted by Tet2 clonal hematopoiesis (CH) via reversal of increased macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor expression and suggests blocking IL-6 signaling as a potential therapy for CH-driven cardiovascular disease.

Accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating is used to construct a chronology of Neanderthal disappearance, showing that Neanderthals overlapped with anatomically modern humans for between about 2,000 and 5,000 years.