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Multimodal DNA methylation and transcriptome profiling of single glioma cells links tumor cell transcriptional states to epigenetics via interaction with PRC2 and shows that these states are heritable and important for tumor plasticity.

The wake-active orexin system plays a central role in the dynamic regulation of glucose homeostasis. Here the authors report that inactivation of the orexin receptor type 1 or 2 in serotonergic neurons differentially regulate systemic glucose homeostasis in the context of diet induced obesity.

Transcriptomic and histological profiling of gut biopsies from multiple independent cohorts of patients with inflammatory bowel disease identifies distinct histopathological, molecular and cellular features associated with treatment response, providing insights for patient stratification and precision therapy.

The results obtained by seventy different teams analysing the same functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset show substantial variation, highlighting the influence of analytical choices and the importance of sharing workflows publicly and performing multiple analyses.

High-resolution subnational mapping of child growth failure indicators for 105 low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017 shows that, despite considerable progress, substantial geographical inequalities still exist in some countries.

The immune system is known to play an important role in regenerative processes. Here, Baht and colleagues identify Metrnl, a myokine/cytokine expressed in macrophages, as mediator of muscle regeneration. Metrnl promotes macrophage IGF-1 production that, in turn, activates satellite cells.

This Perspective explores the potential of large-area electronics in wirelessly powered sensor nodes for the Internet of Things, considering low-power circuits for digital processing and signal amplification, as well as diodes and printed antennas for data communication and radiofrequency energy harvesting.

Developing innovative materials for reduced energy consumption in phosphor converted white light-emitting diodes remains a challenge. Here, the authors report a narrow band red-emitting oxonitride material with a highly symmetrical Sr2 + coordination for energy efficient white light-emitting diodes.

Saçma, Pospiech and co-workers show that sinusoidal niches are uniquely preserved on ageing, that they are the predominant niche for label-retaining (LR)-HSCs in aged mice and display higher reconstitution capacity compared with non-LR HSCs.

Performance of distributed optical fiber sensing is partially limited by the need for hardware changes. Here, the authors introduce a coding algorithm that enables enhanced performance through faster processing using only software-based methods.

The proper verification of the stability of metal oxide catalysts for water electrolysis in acid electrolyte remains unresolved. Here, the ‘stability number’ is introduced to evaluate the dissolution mechanisms of various iridium-based oxides and to facilitate benchmarking of catalysts independent of loading, surface area or involved active sites.

Precise organization of nanoparticles and polymers for the design of hybrid materials remains a challenging task. Here, the authors show a convenient way to organize nanoobjects by preorganization of inorganic particles in presence of a functional peptidic homopolymer.

Bcl-6 is the signature transcription factor for T_FH cells. Crotty and colleagues provide a comprehensive transcriptional map depicting the regulatory circuitry controlled by Bcl-6 in determining T_FH cell fate and function.

Ilina et al. investigate the balance between cell adhesion and matrix density on patterns of collective breast cancer cell invasion using three-dimensional models of the extracellular matrix, in vivo imaging and in silico modelling

A supergene controlling social behaviour arose in the common ancestor of six ant species by the sequential incorporation of three inversions.

Stretchable elastic materials with high strength, toughness, and good ionic conductivity are desirable for flexible electronics but attaining all of these properties simultaneously remains challenging. Here, the authors report a family of ionically conductive elastomers without compromise between mechanical properties and ionic conductivity by introducing a multiple network elastomer architecture into a low T_g polymer.

Stig Bojesen, Georgia Chenevix-Trench, Alison Dunning and colleagues report common variants at the TERT-CLPTM1L locus associated with mean telomere length measured in whole blood. They also identify associations at this locus to breast or ovarian cancer susceptibility and report functional studies in breast and ovarian cancer tissue and cell lines.

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.

In this disease mapping study, the authors estimate disability-adjusted life year rates for three of the major causes of mortality for children under five 43 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. They identify significant heterogeneity at the subnational level, highlighting the need for a targeted intervention approach.

Accurate analysis of mitochondrial DNA is important for mitochondrial disease clinical research and diagnostics. Here, authors present a method using Cas9 cleavage, nanopore sequencing and a custom pipeline to identify pathogenic variants, deletions and accurately quantify heteroplasmy to below 1%.

Simon Stacey, Kari Stefansson and colleagues show that a germline variant in the TP53 polyadenylation signal is associated with increased risk of basal cell carcinoma and other solid tumors.

Wu et al. utilize multiparametric analysis of early-stage human NSCLC to characterize a population of Vδ1 T cells displaying a resident memory and effector memory phenotype, which were associated with ongoing remission.

Entanglement was observed in top–antitop quark events by the ATLAS experiment produced at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN using a proton–proton collision dataset with a centre-of-mass energy of √s  = 13 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 140 fb⁻¹.

Micrometre-thick supercapacitors made from onion-like carbon nanoparticles exhibit orders of magnitude higher capacitance and energy density compared with electrolytic capacitors, and much higher charging/discharging rates than conventional supercapacitors.

With an optimized protocol and unique molecular identifiers (UMIs) to tag individual transcripts, the mRNA complement of a single cell can be quantified on an absolute scale with almost no amplification bias.

The global proliferation of urban digital twin models compels a research agenda that investigates the intertwined social, political, and technical dimensions of their development, from design to use in planning and governance.

Combining decellularised scaffolds with patient-derived cells holds promise for bioengineering of functional tissues. Here the authors develop a two-stage approach to engineer an oesophageal graft that retains the structural organisation of native oesophagus.

Greening disease threatens the productivity of citrus crops worldwide yet the pathosystem is poorly understood. Here, Clark et al. show that an effector cloned from the associated bacteria can suppress host plant papain-like cysteine proteases' activity, suggesting its probable role in pathogenesis.

Evolutionarily conserved gene modules mediate neurodegenerative dementia in a variety of mouse models and in postmortem brain tissue from patients.

Human leucocyte antigen E (HLA-E) directly engages NK cells but also presents antigen to CD8⁺ T cells. Here the authors show crystal structures of HLA-E in complex with peptides derived from HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and describe binding conformations, the positional impact of residues involved and discuss implications for functional presentation to CD8⁺ T cells.

The COVID-19 pandemic has stopped many human activities, which has had significant impact on emissions of greenhouse gases. Here, the authors present daily estimates of country-level CO₂ emissions for different economic sectors and show that there has been a 8.8% decrease in global CO2 emissions in the first half of 2020.

Single nuclei RNA-seq has been used to characterize transcriptional signature of environment-related activity in cells of the dentate gyrus. Here the authors use this approach to show that whether a neuron will be reactivated in response to re-exposure to a previous environment can be predicted by its transcriptional signature.

Advances in computational omics technologies are enabling access to the hidden diversity of natural products, and artificial intelligence approaches are facilitating key steps in harnessing the therapeutic potential of such compounds, including biological activity prediction. This article discusses synergies between these fields to effectively identify drug candidates from the plethora of molecules produced by nature, and how to address the challenges in realizing the potential of these synergies.

Proteomics can be used to refine cancer classification. Here, the authors characterise chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients by proteogenomics, and identified a subtype of patients with poor prognosis associated with aberrant B cell receptor signalling.

Vehicle–grid integration may reduce renewable electricity costs and increase electric vehicle ownership. Simulations combining empirically derived models of vehicle adoption and charging with an electricity system model show that excluding consumer behaviour inflates these benefits.

Yanick Crow and colleagues report that biallelic mutations in SNORD118, which encodes the box C/D snoRNA U8, cause the cerebral microangiopathy leukoencephalopathy with calcifications and cysts. The mutations affect U8 expression, processing and protein binding and suggest a role for this snoRNA in cerebral vascular homeostasis.

TDP-43 gains function due to perturbed autoregulation in a Tardbp knock-in mouse model of ALS-FTD, leading to aberrant Mapt splicing and a paucity of parvalbumin interneurons. Phenotypic heterogeneity is exploited to yield modifiers of disease.

In exploring the possibility that racial differences in platelet function might exist, Paul Bray and his colleagues report that platelets from blacks have a greater propensity to aggregate than those from whites in response to activation of the PAR4 thrombin receptor. Mechanistically, this difference in platelet function seems to reflect differences in the expression of the microRNA miR-376c and its target, the enzyme phosphatidylcholine transfer protein.

Tumours with homologous recombination (HR) defects become sensitive to PARPi. Here, the authors show that androgen receptor (AR) regulates HR and AR inhibition activates the PARP pathway in vivo, thus inhibition of both AR and PARP is required for effective treatment of high risk prostate cancer.

Breakneck speed of progress offers interdisciplinary opportunities but also continuing ethical and social concerns.

The implementation of COVID-19 stay-at-home policies was associated with a considerable drop in urban crime in 27 cities across 23 countries. More stringent restrictions over movement in public space were predictive of larger declines in crime.

ELOVLs are membrane-embedded enzymes that elongate very long chain fatty acids, precursors of sphingolipids and ceramides. The first crystal structure of a human ELOVL reveals an unexpected reaction mechanism, suggesting potential approaches for inhibition in disease.

Automated synthesis technologies are often highly specialized, focusing only on a narrow set of reaction classes. Now, solid-phase peptide synthesis, iterative Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling and diazirine chemistry have all been automated using the same universal platform architecture. A convergent 12-step synthesis demonstrates the utility of the reported Chemputer system.