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The authors describe the isolation and characterization of broadly cross-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against diverse H5Nx viruses from individuals who received a monovalent H5N1 vaccine 15 years ago. They identify five mAbs that potently neutralized the majority of H5 clades and protected against lethal 2.3.4.4b H5N1 infection in mice.

Previous research has suggested that pDCs are required for an effective antiviral immune response, but direct experimental evidence to support this is lacking. Here Ngo et al. develop a pDC knockin mouse model and find that pDCs are dispensable for an antiviral immune response to mouse cytomegalovirus and may be detrimental during influenza or SARS-CoV-2 infection.

A high-resolution antigenic map of influenza A(H5) haemagglutinin (HA) enables the design of immunogenic and antigenically central vaccine HA antigens that elicit antibody responses broadly covering the A(H5) antigenic space.

In an updated report on 70 laboratory-confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5N1 cases in the USA between March 2024 and May 2025, the absence of human-to-human transmission to date was confirmed, with no known mutations of resistance to neuroaminidase inhibitors.

Trans-ancestry meta-analysis of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) from 1,046,070 individuals identifies 264 associated loci, providing a resource of molecular targets for translational research of chronic kidney disease.

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.

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.

Cells with mitochondrial defects are shown to be eliminated by cell competition in the early mouse embryo, thus suggesting that cell competition acts as a purifying selection that optimizes mitochondrial performance during development.

In response to the emergence of H5N1 influenza A viruses as a novel pathogen of cattle, this study shows that pasteurisation of cows’ milk should effectively inactivate the virus, but that it remains infectious in unpasteurised milk.

The authors find subtype-specific influenza cross-reactivity patterns, including rapid declines for A(H3N2) within 6 years, sustained responses for A(H1N1)pdm09 and increased cross-reactive responses in humans after repeated A(H3N2) exposure.

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.

Here, the authors show that giving probiotics to very low birth weight preterm babies can help reduce harmful antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gut and support the development of a healthier microbiome.

Divangahi and colleagues report that β-glucan pretreatment before influenza A virus challenge can increase survival by inducing long-term reprogramming of neutrophils, promoting disease tolerance irrespective of viral load.

In this study, the authors report the small molecule inhibitor EDP-235 as a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 and show that it is effective against a range of variants and other coronaviruses and that it suppresses virus replication, reduces lung damage, and prevents transmission in small animal models.

To study the onset of carcinogenesis, the authors use an optogenetics approach to selectively activate with light the Src oncoprotein in cells of an epithelium with a good control in time and space. The transformed cells collectively extrude as a tridimensional aggregate from the cell sheet while remaining alive and in parallel cells of the monolayer converge toward the locus of extrusion.

Seasonal influenza levels were unusually low when non-pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19 were in place. Here, the authors analyse serological and epidemiological evidence for the hypothesis that such lulls in influenza transmission lead to reduced immunity and therefore larger epidemics in subsequent seasons.

An analysis of the impact of logging intensity on biodiversity in tropical forests in Sabah, Malaysia, identifies a threshold of tree biomass removal below which logged forests still have conservation value.

A protein that evolved in primates, BTN3A3, is expressed in human airways and shows antiviral activity against avian IAVs but not against human IAVs.

Whole-genome sequencing analysis of individuals with primary immunodeficiency identifies new candidate disease-associated genes and shows how the interplay between genetic variants can explain the variable penetrance and complexity of the disease.

HRO761 is a potent, selective, allosteric WRN inhibitor that binds at the interface of the D1 and D2 helicase domains, locking WRN in an inactive conformation.

In this study, Aggarwal and colleagues perform prospective sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolates derived from asymptomatic student screening and symptomatic testing of students and staff at the University of Cambridge. They identify important factors that contributed to within university transmission and onward spread into the wider community.

The Omicron variant evades vaccine-induced neutralization but also fails to form syncytia, shows reduced replication in human lung cells and preferentially uses a TMPRSS2-independent cell entry pathway, which may contribute to enhanced replication in cells of the upper airway. Altered fusion and cell entry characteristics are linked to distinct regions of the Omicron spike protein.

Genetic and testing data from England show that the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern B.1.1.7 has a transmission advantage over other lineages.

Post-international travel quarantine has been widely implemented to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but the impacts of such policies are unclear. Here, the authors used linked genomic and contact tracing data to assess the impacts of a 14-day quarantine on return to England in summer 2020.

Pulendran and colleagues delineated the mechanisms underlying the nonspecific antiviral effects exerted by the BCG vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 and reveal a pivotal role for BCG-specific CD4⁺ T cells that produce interferon-γ in imprinting a persistent antiviral innate program in the lung, mediating heterologous viral protection.

Antigenic variation of influenza A viruses necessitates the annual reformulation of vaccines. Kanekiyo et al. develop a mosaic nanoparticle vaccine against influenza virus that is able to elicit neutralizing antibodies that span nearly 100 years of variation of influenza A virus.

Influenza exposure in early childhood can affect the immune response to distinct viral strains later in life. Here, Gouma et al. show that contemporary 3c2.A H3N2 virus infections boost non-neutralizing H3N2 antibodies in middle-aged individuals, potentially leaving them vulnerable to recurrent infections.

There has been no general increase in cancer mortality near nuclear installations in England and Wales during the period 1959-1980. Leukaemia in young people may be an exception, though the reason remains unclear.

COVID-19 can be associated with neurological complications. Here the authors show that markers of brain injury, but not immune markers, are elevated in the blood of patients with COVID-19 both early and months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in those with brain dysfunction or neurological diagnoses.

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.

Antigenic variants from human H1N1 and H3N2 influenza virus libraries possessing random mutations in the haemagglutinin protein, selected by incubation with human and/or ferret convalescent sera, identify escape variants similar to those that have emerged in nature.

An improved, fully re-annotated Aedes aegypti genome assembly (AaegL5) provides insights into the sex-determining M locus, chemosensory systems that help mosquitoes to hunt humans and loci involved in insecticide resistance and will help to generate intervention strategies to fight this deadly disease vector.

Fish lack immunoglobulin A, which suggests that they lack specialized mucosal antibodies. Sunyer and colleagues show that immunoglobulin T fulfills this mucosal antibody function and engenders protection against gut parasites.

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 white pupae (wp) phenotype has been used for decades to selectively remove females of tephritid species in genetic sexing, but the determining gene is unknown. Here, the authors show that wp phenotype is produced by parallel mutations in a Major Facilitator Superfamily domain containing gene across multiple species.

Delta-valerobetaine is a microbiome-derived metabolite that correlates with obesity-related phenotypes in humans, and exacerbates diet-induced obesity in mice.

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.