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A genome-wide association study including over 76,000 individuals with schizophrenia and over 243,000 control individuals identifies common variant associations at 287 genomic loci, and further fine-mapping analyses highlight the importance of genes involved in synaptic processes.

A genome-wide association study of critically ill patients with COVID-19 identifies genetic signals that relate to important host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage that may be targeted by repurposing drug treatments.

The hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin exerts analgesic effects, but the underlying pathways remain largely elusive. Here, the authors describe an analgesic pathway formed by oxytocin neurons projecting to the periaqueductal grey, where axonally released oxytocin activates oxytocin-receptor expressing GABA neurons and subsequently reduces pain-like behaviors in both female and male rats.

A study of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in England between September 2020 and June 2021 finds that interventions capable of containing previous variants were insufficient to stop the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

A global gauge-corrected monthly river flow and storage dataset suggests that residence time is a key driver of water storage and variability and indicates substantial freshwater discharge to the ocean from the Maritime Continent.

Ruth Loos and colleagues report results of a large genome-wide association study for body mass index. They identify 18 new loci associated with this trait, some of which map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance.

The medium-resolution transmission spectrum of the exoplanet WASP-39b, described using observations from the Near Infrared Spectrograph G395H grating aboard JWST, shows significant absorption from CO₂ and H₂O and detection of SO₂.

The genetic basis of tinnitus and how it relates to hearing loss genetics is unknown. In a large GWAS for tinnitus, the authors discover tinnitus’ distinct genetic architecture from hearing loss and its correlation with a spectrum of psychiatric disorders.

The delivery of CRISPR RNPs has potential advantages over other genome editing approaches, including reduced off-target editing and reduced immunogenicity. Here the authors report self-deliverable Cas9 RNPs capable of robustly editing cultured cells in vitro and the mouse brain upon direct injections.

Paint server and homology optimization pipeline (PaintSHOP), an interactive platform for the design of oligo fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) experiments, democratizes and standardizes the process of designing complex probe sets for the oligo FISH community.

Non-human primates are important animal models for studying SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, Salguero et al. directly compare rhesus and cynomolgus macaques and show that both species represent COVID-19 disease of mild clinical cases, and provide a lung histopathology scoring system.

A high-resolution gene expression atlas of prenatal and postnatal brain development of rhesus monkey charts global transcriptional dynamics in relation to brain maturation, while comparative analysis reveals human-specific gene trajectories; candidate risk genes associated with human neurodevelopmental disorders tend to be co-expressed in disease-specific patterns in the developing monkey neocortex.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

A national prospective study of patients requiring hospitalization for COVID-19 demonstrates global cognitive deficits at 1 year, associated with elevated brain injury markers and reduced gray matter volume.

Over half the world’s rivers dry periodically, yet little is known about the biological communities in dry riverbeds. This study examines biodiversity across 84 non-perennial rivers in 19 countries using DNA metabarcoding. It finds that nutrient availability, climate and biotic interactions influence the biodiversity of these dry environments.

Post-stroke walking impairment is a significant public health concern. Here, the authors perform an interventional, randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of InTandem™, an autonomous neurorehabilitation system utilizing auditory-motor entrainment to improve walking after stroke.

Precise control over the energy of atomic metal sites is key to unlocking novel reaction pathways. Here, the authors achieve selective oxygen activation by the isolated copper site on ceria, due to its reduced 3d orbital energy via cerium induced electron withdrawing effect.

Hydrologic data collected from river gauges inform critical decisions for allocating water resources, conserving ecosystems and predicting the occurrence of droughts and floods. The current global river gauge network is biased towards large, perennial rivers, and strategic adaptations are needed to capture the full scope of rivers on Earth.

The authors show that oxytocin-receptor-expressing neurons in the parabrachial nucleus are key regulators of fluid homeostasis that suppress fluid intake when activated, but do not decrease food intake after fasting or salt intake after salt depletion.

Genome-wide analyses identify common variants associated with 11 distinct neuropathology endophenotypes, providing insights into the mechanisms underlying the genetic risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

The transmission spectrum of the exoplanet WASP-39b is obtained using observations from the Single-Object Slitless Spectroscopy mode of the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph instrument aboard the JWST.

Montserrat Garcia-Closas and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for bladder cancer. They identify three new susceptibility loci on chromosomes 22q13.1, 19q12 and 2q37.1.

Limited tumor cell delivery is a major challenge for the efficacious delivery of siRNAs to silence traditionally undruggable oncogenes. Here the authors optimize siRNAs for in situ binding to albumin through C18 lipid modifications and show the application of the lead conjugate structure for targeting MCL1 in orthotopic breast tumors in mice.

Schief and colleagues show that germline-targeting epitope scaffolds can elicit responses from rare broadly neutralizing antibody precursor B cells with predefined binding specificities and genetic features.

Federated ML (FL) provides an alternative to train accurate and generalizable ML models, by only sharing numerical model updates. Here, the authors present the largest FL study to-date to generate an automatic tumor boundary detector for glioblastoma.

The genetic prehistory of central America has not been well explored. Here, the authors find evidence from ancient DNA from twenty individuals who lived in Belize 9,600 to 3,700 years ago of a migration from the south that coincided with the first evidence for forest clearing and the spread of maize horticulture.

Analysis of ancient human DNA from the Swahili coast reveals that predominantly African female ancestors and Asian male ancestors formed families after around ad 1000 and lived in elite communities in coastal stone towns.

Genetic association studies have identified loci including the choline transporter SLC44A2 as a potential regulator of thrombosis. Here the authors report that loss of SLC44A2 impairs platelet activation and thrombosis in mice via a reduction of mitochondrial ATP production.

Interfaces between two dissimilar transition metal oxides can exhibit emergent strongly correlated electronic and magnetic states due to charge transfer and electronic reconfiguration. Here, the authors synthesize and investigate an exotic Mott ground state in LaTiO_3+δ/LaNiO₃heterostructures.

Amyloid fibrils are implicated in a number of diseases but the origin of their length distributions is poorly understood. Here, evidence is presented to support a structural transition at a critical mass concentration, above which fragmentation of fibrils is suppressed.

Enhancers for endodermal organs are primed at the chromatin level prior to lineage induction by FOXA pioneer transcription factors; how pervasive this is, is not well known. Here the authors show that only a small subset of organ-specific enhancers are bound and primed by FOXA prior to lineage induction, whereas the majority do not undergo chromatin priming and engage FOXA upon lineage induction.

Colombo et al. build a morphological spectrum of over 40,000 microglia across development and disease with a topological data analysis approach that allows mapping of new conditions along these sex-region-specific and brain-region-specific atlases.

Integrative analysis in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma uncovers that biallelic mutations on TMEM30A are associated with a favorable outcome and enhanced sensitivity to CD47 blockade.

Observations from the Lucy spacecraft of the small main-belt asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh reveals unexpected complexity, with a longitudinal trough and equatorial ridge, as well as the discovery of the first contact binary satellite.

A survey of sharks and rays on coral reefs within 66 marine protected areas across 36 countries showcases that the conservation benefits of full MPA protection to sharks almost double when accompanied by effective fisheries management.

Patients with cancer undergoing anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade can experience immune-related adverse effects. Wherry and colleagues examined the immunity elicited upon immunization of patients with cancer and report that anti-PD-1 immunotherapy dynamically affects influenza vaccine-induced immune responses.

Cecilia Lindgren and colleagues report results of a large-scale genome-wide association study for waist-to-hip ratio, a measure of body fat distribution. They identify 13 new loci associated with this trait, several of which show stronger effects in women than in men.

Exome analysis of chemical-carcinogen-induced mouse tumours provides evidence for T-cell-mediated immunoselection as a mechanism of immunoediting.

Memory is hypothesised to depend on different brain regions that interact in a network. Here, the authors use case studies of stroke patients with amnesia from the literature to identify brain regions that are part of this network.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

Exciton-polaritons are hybridized light-matter states that exhibit intriguing phenomena that are unobserved in purely excitonic states. Here, the authors elucidate the photophysical mechanism of polariton-assisted long-range energy transfer in carbon nanotubes using two-dimensional white-light spectroscopy and quantum calculations.

The atmospheric terminator region of WASP-39 b, a hot gas giant exoplanet, is inhomogeneous, despite past assumptions, with the evening terminator being hotter and thus probably clearer, and the morning terminator probably being cloudy and consequently cooler.

SH2 domains are challenging to target using small molecules. Here, the authors develop phosphotyrosine-based covalent ligands of the E3 ligase SOCS2 using structure-based design. A pro-drug approach yields cell active inhibitors that block SOCS2 substrate recruitment.

How epigenetic regulation affects pancreatic development is unclear. Here, the authors show that the histone demethylase LSD1 regulates the epigenetic state of developmental enhancers during pancreatic specification and controls how these enhancers respond to extracellular signals, namely retinoic acid.

Time-series observations from the JWST of the transiting exoplanet WASP-39b show gaseous water in the planet’s atmosphere and place an upper limit on the abundance of methane.

Climate simulations suggest that the contribution of methane to climate warming and wetting due to absorption of long-wave radiation is partially counteracted by short-wave absorption.

Defective protein quality control is a key feature of neurodegeneration. Here, the authors show that mutations in Nemf/NEMF, a component of the Ribosome-associated Quality Control complex, have a neurodegenerative effect in mice and may underlie neuromuscular disease in seven unrelated families.

Leveraging RNA-targeting CRISPR–Cas13d technology, Morelli et al. engineered a novel therapeutic strategy that safely and effectively eliminates toxic expanded huntingtin RNA in multiple models of Huntington’s disease.