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A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

A route to synthetically interesting axially chiral diaryl ethers combines an asymmetric desymmetrization and a kinetic resolution.

Careful reaction design has enabled the use of single electron transfer reagent samarium diiodide in substoichiometric amounts to catalyse radical cyclizations.

When two phenyl rings are perfectly stacked in a cyclophane structure that is bridged by three helicene linkers, they lose some of their aromatic stability, even though the overall structure — with 78 π-electrons — is aromatic.

A bacterial tridecasaccharide known to prevent inflammatory bowel disease has been synthesized.

A living catalyst transfer polymerization enables access to low dispersity polyphenylenes and ultimately to length-selective synthesis of graphene nanoribbons.

A range of aryl and alkenyl organosodium reagents can be prepared by halogen–sodium exchange reactions with neopentylsodium and may be a useful alternative to widely used organolithium reagents.

A rearrangement reaction — a classic of traditional organic synthesis — has been applied to a polymer, enabling conversion of a polyester to a vinyl polymer.

Rapidly alternating the polarity of electrodes offers a new opportunity for synthetic chemists to obtain selective reaction outcomes in organic electrosynthesis.

An elusive and highly reactive intermediate has been prepared and characterized, ultimately leading to the synthesis of ten natural products.

(−)-Isoscopariusin A is the fourth natural product with potential immunosuppressive activity to be isolated from Isodon scoparius — a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. Its synthesis will enable further study of its interesting biological activity.

An electrosynthetic coupling of olefins with ketones provides an alternative approach to synthesize tertiary alcohols traditionally prepared through Grignard addition to ketones, providing a forward path for an unusual disconnection.

A deep dive into the mechanism of a classic photoredox reaction.

The complete biosynthetic pathway of the anticancer drug etoposide has been engineered into a tobacco plant enabling its direct milligram scale production.

A team of French and UK researchers have used DNA to template a key photocatalysed cycloaddition reaction in the total synthesis of a marine natural product.

A new route to the aglycone core of the anthracycline idarubicin relies on the global functionalization of tetracene rather than annulation reactions.

Facile isotopic labelling of carbon has been demonstrated using Pd-catalysed exchange of an acid chloride carbonyl with carbon monoxide.

Experimental models show that through-space effects dominate over through-bond effects when considering the influence of so-called electron-withdrawing or electron-donating substituents on molecular conformation and reactivity.

A total synthesis of xishacorene B starts from a chiral pool molecule and exploits a C–C activation reaction to form the core structure.

Although they are generally poor coupling agents under palladium catalysis, germanes are easily cross-coupled under gold catalysis, enabling a new orthogonal cross-coupling reaction.

A biomimetic total synthesis of (–)-oxycodone relies on an electrochemically mediated coupling of two oxygenated aryl rings for a key bond formation.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

C–H functionalization logic has enabled rapid synthetic access to arylomycin antibiotics which could lead to the identification of new broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Meta-analyses in up to 1.3 million individuals identify 87 rare-variant associations with blood pressure traits. On average, rare variants exhibit effects ~8 times larger than the mean effects of common variants and implicate candidate causal genes at associated regions.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

γδ T cells are generally considered innate‐like lymphocytes. Here the authors sequence human γδ T cell receptors (TCR) to show focusing of the private Vδ1 TCR repertoire, suggesting that, unlike Vδ2 T cells, the Vδ1 T cell compartment has adaptive attributes.

Inbreeding depression has been observed in many different species, but in humans a systematic analysis has been difficult so far. Here, analysing more than 1.3 million individuals, the authors show that a genomic inbreeding coefficient (FROH) is associated with disadvantageous outcomes in 32 out of 100 traits tested.

Examination of archaeological pottery residues and modern genes suggest that environmental conditions, subsistence economics and pathogen exposure may explain selection for lactase persistence better than prehistoric consumption of milk.

Hundreds of genetic loci associated with age at menopause, combined with experimental evidence in mice, highlight mechanisms of reproductive ageing across the lifespan.

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.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, Pattaro et al. conduct a meta-analysis to discover several new loci associated with variation in eGFR and find that genes associated with eGFR loci often encode proteins potentially related to kidney development.

Ruth Loos and colleagues report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in 181,171 individuals identifying 14 new loci associated with heart rate and test these for association with cardiac conduction, rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease. Their experimental studies in Drosophila melanogaster and zebrafish models provide support for a role for 20 candidate genes at 11 of these loci in regulation of heart rate.

Genome-wide association analyses of intracranial and nine subcortical brain volumes in 74,898 participants of European ancestry identify 254 independent loci and yield polygenic scores accounting for brain variation across ancestries.

Neutral theory, in which species do not interact, has been used to try to understand the relative species abundance of tropical forests, although its validity been questioned. A non-interacting theory with similarities and differences to conventional neutral theory is developed. The approach provides a unified and quantitatively accurate description of relative species abundance data from both tropical forests and coral reefs.

A general method to depolymerize plastic waste from resin codes 2–7 — including multilayered packaging and oil-contaminated packaging — and produce platform chemicals has been described.

Multi-ancestry meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies for self-reported physical activity during leisure time, leisure screen time, sedentary commuting and sedentary behavior at work identify 99 loci associated with at least one of these traits.

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are a common brain-imaging feature of cerebral small vessel disease. Here, the authors carry out a GWAS and followup analyses for WMH-volume, implicating several variants with potential for risk stratification and drug targeting.

Population-based genome sequencing provides an increasingly rich resource for the identification of low-frequency, large effect variants associated with clinically important phenotypes. Timpson et al. use UK10K data to identify a variant of the APOC3gene strongly associated with plasma triglyceride levels.

Genome-wide analysis identifies variants associated with the volume of seven different subcortical brain regions defined by magnetic resonance imaging. Implicated genes are involved in neurodevelopmental and synaptic signaling pathways.