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Analysing camera-trap data of 163 mammal species before and after the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns, the authors show that responses to human activity are dependent on the degree to which the landscape is modified by humans, with carnivores being especially sensitive.

DNA methylation quantitative trait locus (mQTL) analyses on 32,851 participants identify genetic variants associated with DNA methylation at 420,509 sites in blood, resulting in a database of >270,000 independent mQTLs.

Analyses of phenotypic variety in Fungi show that fungal body plans diversified episodically over time and appear distinct because of the extinction of intermediate forms, similar to what has been described in animals.

Preclinical studies have shown that blockade of the CD73-adenosinergic pathway could improve anti-tumor immunity and response to other immune checkpoint inhibitors. Here the authors report the results of a randomized phase II trial of first-line durvalumab, paclitaxel and carboplatin with or without the anti-CD73 antibody oleclumab in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer.

Babies marked for low birth weight before week 12.

A taste for red leaves may have given us full colour vision.

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.

Drugs targeting cardiovascular disease (CVD) can have negative consequences for liver function. Here, the authors combine genome wide analyses on 69,479 individuals to identify loss-of-function variants with beneficial effects on CVD-related traits without negative impacts on liver function.

This report from the 1000 Genomes Project describes the genomes of 1,092 individuals from 14 human populations, providing a resource for common and low-frequency variant analysis in individuals from diverse populations; hundreds of rare non-coding variants at conserved sites, such as motif-disrupting changes in transcription-factor-binding sites, can be found in each individual.

Testing 255 combinations of chemicals versus bacterial communities shows species diversity contributes to resilience against increasingly complex stressor mixtures.

High-yield farming systems have the potential to spare non-farmed land for other uses (such as nature conservation), but raise concerns about their other environmental impacts (such as greenhouse gas emissions and soil erosion). This study argues such impacts should be measured per unit of production and shows that viewed this way, some land-efficient systems have less impact than lower-yielding alternatives.

Serological analysis and infection outcomes of participants in the multi-center, prospectively enrolled OCTAVE cohort, comprising 2,686 participants with immune-suppressive diseases who recieved two COVID-19 vaccines, reveals specific clinical phenotypes that might benefit from specific COVID-19 therapeutic strategies.

The interferon response has been shown to be linked to severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection and is an essential component of the immune response to COVID-19. Here the authors stratify patients according to COVID-19 severity and asses the interferon response showing defective responses in severe infection and highlight the importance of assay variables and confounding factors that impact the detection of interferon.

The growth of aortic aneurysms can be predicted via a dimensionless physiomarker, derived from first principles and calculated from data acquired via 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging, that describes a transition from stable blood flow to unstable aortic fluttering.

The optical field inside a nanophotonic particle accelerator is revealed. To this end, the authors developed a field imaging technique for spatial and spectral resolution on the nanometer scale.

The Pharma Proteomics Project generates the largest open-access plasma proteomics dataset to date, offering insights into trans protein quantitative trait loci across multiple biological domains, and highlighting genetic influences on ligand–receptor interactions and pathway perturbations across a diverse collection of cytokines and complement networks.

DNA-templated silver nanoclusters possess desirable optical properties, but their excited state dynamics remain poorly understood. Here the authors show that intracluster relaxations in such clusters are strongly coupled to a vibrational mode, resulting in ultrafast concerted transfer of population and coherence between excited states.

A genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI) detects 97 BMI-associated loci, of which 56 were novel, and many loci have effects on other metabolic phenotypes; pathway analyses implicate the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and new pathways such as those related to synaptic function, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.

RNA sequencing data and tumour pathology observations of non-small-cell lung cancers indicate that the immune cell microenvironment exerts strong evolutionary selection pressures that shape the immune-evasion capacity of tumours.

Investigation of variation in three cohorts has identified multiple genetic signals associated with the pregnancy-specific liver disorder, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, giving insight into the disease which can cause preterm birth and stillbirth.

Combination of epidemiology, preclinical models and ultradeep DNA profiling of clinical cohorts unpicks the inflammatory mechanism by which air pollution promotes lung cancer

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) loss of heterozygosity, allele-specific mutation and measurement of expression and repression (MHC Hammer) detects disruption to human leukocyte antigens due to mutations, loss of heterogeneity, altered gene expression or alternative splicing. Applied to lung and breast cancer datasets, the tool shows that these aberrations are common across cancer and can have clinical implications.

Inverse vulcanization (IV) generates sulfur-rich functional polymers from elemental sulfur and organic crosslinkers, but the harsh reaction conditions required limit the scope of suitable crosslinkers. Now, a photoinduced IV has been shown to proceed at ambient temperatures, enabling the use of volatile and gaseous alkenes and alkynes as crosslinkers and broadening the range of products.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma can occur with and without the presence of HPV infection. Here, the authors utilise Mendelian randomization to assess the causal effects of smoking and alcohol on HPV-positive and HPV-negative head and neck cancer development.

GenCast, a probabilistic weather model using artificial intelligence for weather forecasting, has greater skill and speed than the top operational medium-range weather forecast in the world and provides probabilistic, rather than deterministic, forecasts.

RNA-binding proteins can be identified and quantified in any organism using a simple method that combines UV cross-linking and phase separation.

Swanton and colleagues present a clonal expression signature, ORACLE, which, in combination with clinicopathological and molecular risk factors, can predict survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma, and they prospectively validate its prognostic value.

Using a Bayesian approach with neural networks the authors model the demographic history of gorillas, finding admixture from an archaic ‘ghost’ lineage into the common ancestor of eastern gorillas, but not western gorillas.

The interplay between amyloid and tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease is still not well understood. Here, the authors show that amyloid-related increased in soluble p-tau is related to subsequent accumulation of tau aggregates and cognitive decline in early stage of the disease.

Guidelines to crack down on spacecraft garbage.

Major virus milestone reached but battle far from over.

This paper reports integrative molecular analyses of urothelial bladder carcinoma at the DNA, RNA, and protein levels performed as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas project; recurrent mutations were found in 32 genes, including those involved in cell-cycle regulation, chromatin regulation and kinase signalling pathways; chromatin regulatory genes were more frequently mutated in urothelial carcinoma than in any other common cancer studied so far.

Copy number signatures characterize different types of chromosomal instability and predict drug response.

Systematic characterization of longitudinal tau variability in human Alzheimer’s disease using an unbiased subtyping algorithm reveals four trajectories of tau deposition with distinct clinical features.

This study examines the tempo and drivers of penguin diversification by combining genomes from all extant and recently extinct penguin lineages, stratigraphic data from fossil penguins and morphological and biogeographic data from all extant and extinct species. Together, these datasets provide new insights into the genetic basis and evolution of adaptations in penguins.

A new specific, small-molecule activator of the PI3Kα isoform (UCL-TRO-1938) identified through high-throughput screening can transiently activate PI3K signalling and biological responses in cells and tissues, with potential therapeutic applications in tissue protection and regeneration.

Folkersen et al. report the first results from the SCALLOP consortium, a collaborative framework for pQTL mapping and biomarker analysis of proteins on the Olink platform. A total of 315 primary and 136 secondary pQTLs for 85 circulating cardiovascular proteins from over 30,000 individuals were identified and replicated to yield new insights for translational studies and drug development.

Results for the final phase of the 1000 Genomes Project are presented including whole-genome sequencing, targeted exome sequencing, and genotyping on high-density SNP arrays for 2,504 individuals across 26 populations, providing a global reference data set to support biomedical genetics.

In semiconductor nanocrystals, efficient carrier multiplication counteracts hot carrier thermalization, increasing the overall carrier generation yield. Here, de Weerd et al. observe a quantum yield of up to 98% in CsPbI₃ nanocrystals as a result of efficient carrier multiplication.