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Using ancient DNA, isotopes and proteomics, this work reveals social inequality and mobility in Eastern Zhou China, showing female sacrifices, dietary disparities across classes, kinship networks among elites, and rare evidence of social mobility.

Progression-free survival with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors remains suboptimal in EGFR L858R-mutated advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), highlighting the need for strategies to delay resistance. Here this group reports a single-arm, phase II study evaluating first-line double-dose firmonertinib in 33 patients with L858R-mutated locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC.

Bacteria can infect tumour cells which may affect the biological characteristics of the tumour or even the therapeutic outcome. Here authors show that Stenotrophomonas, upon entering tumour cells, trigger endoplasmic reticulum stress, leading to STING degradation and inhibition of MHC-II⁺ macrophages, which ultimately cause tumour progression and immunotherapy resistance.

Granzyme B is an important factor in cytotoxic T lymphocytes anti-tumour immunity. Here, the authors report on a Pd-FTn granzyme B-mimicking nanozyme with a binuclear catalytic centre, delivered by functionalised nanovesicles to selectively trigger caspase-dependent apoptosis for a T cell-inspired cancer therapy.

Behçet’s syndrome is a chronic inflammatory disease with oral ulcers being the most common symptom. Here authors present results from a phase 2 randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial that shows that systemic low dose interleukin-2 could be safely administered to these patients, and the therapy may improve their quality of life.

Spatial transcriptomics (ST) technologies link tissue morphology with gene expression, but remain expensive to use; furthermore, models that predict ST data from histopathology images possess considerable limitations. Here, the authors develop STimage, a deep learning probabilistic framework for ST prediction from histopathology images while prioritising robustness and interpretability.

Rechargeable zinc batteries are promising for grid energy storage but can suffer from short circuits and side reactions. Here, the authors design low-surface-tension electrolytes that enable dense, dendrite-free zinc deposition, achieving long-lasting batteries even under harsh operating conditions.

Large-effect variants in autism remain elusive. Here, the authors use long-read sequencing to assemble phased genomes for 189 individuals, identifying pathogenic variants in TBL1XR1, MECP2, and SYNGAP1, plus nine candidate structural variants missed by short-read methods.

The study shows forests near edges store less carbon due to higher environmental stress. Spatial optimization of new forest plantations could boost carbon storage by 986 Tg by 2060, with 53% of the gain from reducing edge effects.

The presence of EGFR mutations and de novo MET aberrations limited response to EGFR inhibitors in patients with advance non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, the authors report a phase 2 randomised clinical trial investigating first-line osimertinib (EGFR inhibitor) plus savolitinib (c-MET inhibitor) in patients with MET-aberrant, EGFR-mutant advanced NSCLC.

Rancid odors trigger retching and aversion. Here, authors show a nose-to-brain axis whereby such odors activate olfactory-piriform circuits that diverge to mediodorsal thalamic nucleus and nucleus accumbens to mediate retching-like behavior and aversion.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

The authors study epitaxial thin films of the pyrochlore-sublattice compound LiTi2O4 by RIXS and ARPES. They observe cooperation between strong electron correlations and strong electron-phonon coupling, giving rise to a mobile polaronic ground state in which charge motion and lattice distortions are coupled.

A multimedia e-learning chatbot codesigned with community stakeholders increased health awareness in a randomized trial of 2,113 participants in urban and rural areas across 11 Chinese provinces.

Identifying jets originating from heavy quarks plays a fundamental role in hadronic collider experiments. In this work, the ATLAS Collaboration describes and tests a transformer-based neural network architecture for jet flavour tagging based on low-level input and physics-inspired constraints.

A soft robotic probe enables continuous in utero monitoring of fetal physiological parameters, including heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, temperature and electrocardiogram data, during open or fetoscopic surgery to provide real-time information on fetal condition and distress.

An artificial intelligence-driven robotic chemist that integrates generative machine-learning models incorporating spectroscopic descriptors with automated experimentation is developed, enabling the inverse design of high-entropy catalysts and offering a generalizable strategy for the design of diverse complex materials.

Thymine DNA-glycosylase (TDG) has established roles in DNA repair, methylation and transcription, with some implications for cancer development. A study has now identified a synthetic lethality between TDG and p53 in cancer cells, caused by the accumulation of double-stranded RNA.

A martensitic alloy with a tensile strength exceeding 3 GPa and a fracture elongation of 5.13% is developed. These mechanical properties arise from interface complexes interacting with dense dislocation networks, which is a mechanism shown to be applicable to other compositions.

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine tumor with limited risk stratification. Here, the authors perform multi-omic analysis of MTC samples from 452 patients across 10 Chinese clinical centers, identify molecular subtypes and develop a prediction model.

Mechanical cues are key for modulation and metabolism in neural regeneration, yet the mechanisms remain unclear. Here, the authors developed mechano-bioactive piezoelectric hydrogel bioelectronics to achieve mechanical-electrical-bioenergetic energy conversion for neural repair

N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) is an N⁴‐acetylcytidine (ac⁴C) writer, which catalyzes RNA acetylation at cytidine N⁴ position on RNAs. Here, the authors show that NAT10 catalyzes ac⁴C addition to a long non-coding RNA encoded by the oncogenic DNA virus Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), triggering viral lytic reactivation from latency, which promotes NAT10 recruitment of IFI16 mRNA, resulting in inflammasome activation.

A single-cell epigenomic atlas of human immune cells highlights cell-type-specific features associated with genetic or environmental exposures.

MedHELM, an extensible evaluation framework including a new taxonomy for classifying medical tasks and a benchmark of many datasets across these categories, enables the evaluation of large language models on real-world clinical tasks.

van der Waals (vdW) dielectric materials with a wide bandgap and high dielectric constant are necessary for the development of 2D electronics. Here, the authors report the synthesis of quasi-vdW layered Sm₂O₂SO₄ thin crystals, showing a bandgap of ~5.54 eV and a dielectric constant ~18, leading to high performance 2D MoS₂ transistors.

A global synthesis of >600 studies finds that across agro-ecosystems, grasslands and forests in temperate and tropical zones, increasing plant diversity has a consistently positive effect on plant performance and the suppression of antagonists.

The pathophysiologic functions of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) remain to be studied. Here the authors report that snoRNA SNORA49 suppresses liver cancer stem cell renewal through transcriptional inhibition of the stemness factor SOX9.

Digital surveillance at the national scale, coupled with a spatial model that extends the data to a more granular scale, reveals gaps in MMR vaccination coverage that align with recent measles outbreaks.

An analysis of heatwaves in 265 Chinese cities found that small accessible parks mitigated heat-related mortality more effectively than a single large park.

Effective therapies remain limited for patients with high-risk recurrence after hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) resection. Here, the authors report a clinical trial investigating the adjuvant combination of the anti-PD-L1 antibody benmelstobart plus the multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor anlotinib, in patients with high-risk recurrence after resection of HCC.

CDK4/6 inhibitors are promising treatments for ER+ breast cancer, however resistance remains a challenge. Here, the authors analyse the NeoPalANA cohort and indicate that a 33 gene signature was predictive of response to neoadjuvant anastrozole and palbociclib.

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

Known to augment host innate immunity, Zhou and Ahearn et al. shows that a SARS-CoV2 NSP15 mutant also increases viral recombination and reduces sub-genomic message. Results articulate a novel role for NSP15 in viral transcription and recombination.

A short peptide derived from a commensal-fungal-secreted protein promotes repair in models of colon epithelial damage when delivered directly or via probiotic microbes.

A combination of biochemical, cell biological and electron microscopy analyses reveal a ‘nucleotide code’ that coordinates Lis1–dynein binding stoichiometry, which in turn governs Lis1’s ability to relieve dynein autoinhibition.

pH is a critical regulator of (bio)chemical processes and therefore tightly regulated in nature. Now, proteins have been shown to possess the functionality to drive pH gradients without requiring energy input or membrane enclosure but through condensation. Protein condensates can drive unique pH gradients that modulate biochemical activity in both living and artificial systems.

A non-coplanar axially chiral molecular contact favours the crystalline growth of perovskite film and improves interfacial stability in perovskite solar cells. Small-area devices yield a certified power conversion efficiency of 26.44% and maintain 98% of it after 2,000 hours of operation.

Brown adipose tissue β3AR plays a functional role in regulating susceptibility to social stress, which is controlled by neural inputs from the paraventricular hypothalamus.

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

Analysis combining multiple global tree databases reveals that whether a location is invaded by non-native tree species depends on anthropogenic factors, but the severity of the invasion depends on the native species diversity.

Direct air capture is a promising technology to mitigate the rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations contributing to climate change. Here a covalent organic framework with high CO₂ capacity and cycling stability is reported to be capable of selectively and rapidly removing CO₂ from open air.

An in situ multistep edge-contact process is developed for MoS₂ transistors, achieving quasi-non-volatile capacitorless two-transistor dynamic random-access memory with 5-bit accuracy and nanosecond write speeds.

This study identifies a distinct Wnt5a high expression fibroblast population in the mouse sclera that protects against myopia progression by maintaining extracellular matrix homeostasis via Sparc pathway, offering potential therapeutic targets.

Fabrication of fully stretchable organic light-emitting diodes incorporating an intrinsically stretchable exciplex-assisted phosphorescent layer along with MXene-contact stretchable electrodes is described, demonstrating high efficiency and mechanical compliance for applications in next-generation wearable and deformable displays.