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We must urgently develop measures to tackle the new coronavirus — but safety always comes first, says Shibo Jiang.

Quantum low-density parity-check error correction codes are anticipated to deliver high performance, but require long-range qubit–qubit interactions. Two of these error correction codes have now been successfully implemented on a superconducting device.

SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve, necessitating updated vaccines and therapeutics. Here the authors identify three broadly binding antibodies from vaccinated or infected individuals, characterize their conserved non-overlapping RBD epitopes by structural analysis and demonstrate protective effects in a hamster model.

STING agonist-based endoplasmic reticulum-targeting molecules can be conjugated directly onto antigens to deliver them to the cross-presentation pathway, improving CD8⁺ T cell responses against tumours and viruses.

The outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) between 2002 and 2004 killed hundreds of people. Vaccines against the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) could protect the population during future outbreaks. In this Review, Shibo Jiang and colleagues describe such vaccines, as well as other therapeutics, based on the SARS-CoV spike protein.

Stable and robust topological edge modes are observed at finite temperatures in an array of 100 programmable superconducting qubits because of emergent symmetries present in the prethermal regime of this system.

Recently, there have been proposals to extend the concept of time crystals to topological order. Here the authors observe a prethermal topologically ordered time crystal on a superconducting quantum processor, where discrete time-translation symmetry breaking manifests for nonlocal rather than local observables.

Immobilized cobalt phthalocyanine shows promise in CO₂ electroreduction to methanol. However, the reaction mechanism remains unclear. This study reveals that cathodic potential critically influences methanol production by altering the symmetry and binding properties at the cobalt active center.

Superconducting qubits have been used to realize a quantum many-body state that is capable of universal topological quantum computation.

MERS-CoV is a novel human coronavirus that has recently caused outbreaks of respiratory illness with high case fatality rate. Here the authors characterize the membrane fusion apparatus of MERS-CoV and develop a peptide that can inhibit virus fusion and replication in vitro.

The fully human single-domain antibody n425 aginst NiV targets a conserved cryptic epitope on G protein and inhibits membrane fusion by disrupting tetramerization. These insights advance neutralization mechanisms and effective countermeasure design.

Zika virus (ZIKV) has spread rapidly in recent years and there is a need for antiviral treatments. Here, the authors develop an antiviral peptide, based on the stem region of ZIKV envelope protein, and show that it is safe in pregnant mice and inhibits ZIKV infection in pregnant mice and fetuses.

Modulating single-metal sites at the atomic level can boost the intrinsic catalytic activity. Here, the authors describe the design of Pt atomic clusters containing Pt-O-Pt units supported on Co single atoms and N co-doped carbon for enhanced hydrogen evolution catalysis.

The role of coagulation system in erythropoiesis is not clear. Here, the authors report that an anticoagulant protein TFPI from erythroblasts directs central macrophages to synthesize heme, which in turn promotes erythropoiesis in bone marrow.

By tuning the plasma frequency, Yu, Gao et al. develop an industrial-scale chemical vapour deposition system for uniform nanocrystalline silicon oxide coatings, enabling 26.41% efficiency in silicon heterojunction solar cells with copper electrodes.

Post-translational modifications can affect antibody function in health and disease, but identification of all variants is difficult using existing technologies. Here the authors develop a microfluidic method to identify and quantify low-abundance IgG N-glycans and show some of these IgGs can be used as biomarkers for rheumatoid arthritis.

Microwell-seq is used to generate single-cell, whole-body expression landscapes of zebrafish, Drosophila and earthworm. A deep-learning model, Nvwa, predicts gene expression from DNA sequence and identifies regulatory programs shared across eight species.

Signatures of non-equilibrium Floquet SPT phases with a programmable superconducting quantum processor are observed in which the discrete time translational symmetry only breaks at the boundaries and not in the bulk.

Photoelectrochemical oxidation provides a promising strategy for glucaric acid production. Here, selective oxidation of glucose to glucaric acid is realized on the photoanode of defective TiO2 decorated with single-atom Pt via a photoelectrochemical strategy.

Until today effective antivirals for COVID-19 treatment are not widely available. Here, Zhao et al. characterize a dual-functional cross-linking peptide, 8P9R, that can inhibit SARS-CoV-2 virus entry in vitro and suppresses viral replication in vivo in golden Syrian hamster.

Enzalutamide, an approved drug for prostate cancer, acts on TMPRSS2 expression, a key mediator for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, the authors characterize the anti-SARS-CoV-2 effects of Enzalutamide in prostate cancer cells, lung cancer cells, human lung organoids and in hACE2-transduced Tmprss2 knockout mice and show lack antiviral action in human lung cells and human lung organoids, likely due to the AR-independent TMPRSS2 expression in mouse and human lung epithelial cells.

Viral subunit vaccines contain epitopes that elicit non-neutralizing immune responses. Here, Duet al. mask an immunodominant non-neutralizing epitope on a MERS coronavirus subunit vaccine with a glycan probe, leading to significantly improved efficacy of the vaccine.

m336 is an exceptionally potent germline-like antibody against the emerging MERS-CoV virus. Here, the authors solve the structure of m336 in complex with MERS-CoV receptor-binding domain and use it to reveal a role of junctional and allele-specific residues in the interaction and suggest implications for vaccine development.

A limited number of therapeutics is available to treat influenza A virus (IAV) infections. Here, the authors show that defective interfering genes, delivered with a dual-functional peptide that enables intracellular accumulation and prevents endosomal acidification, inhibit IAV replication in vitro and in vivo.

The vulnerability of quantum machine learning models against adversarial noises, together with a defense strategy way out of this dilemma, is demonstrated experimentally with a programmable superconducting quantum processor.

Emergence of drug resistance limits the efficacy of HIV drugs, which currently requires life-long administration. In vitro high-throughput screening for competition with a broadly neutralizing antibody of HIV identified a small molecule that extends the strategies for targeting HIV.

In this Perspective, Su, Du and Jiang discuss lessons from previous vaccine development efforts for other viruses and how the mechanisms of vaccine-associated disease enhancement seen in some viral infections can inform the development of a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine.

More clinical trial data are needed to determine whether sera from COVID-19-convalescent patients and neutralizing monoclonal antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2 antigens can prevent COVID-19 or reduce the severity of the disease in high-risk populations.