Search

Using ancient DNA, isotopes and proteomics, this work reveals social inequality and mobility in Eastern Zhou China, showing female sacrifices, dietary disparities across classes, kinship networks among elites, and rare evidence of social mobility.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) combined with immunotherapy have improved outcomes in advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC), yet resistance persists. This group presents single-cell transcriptomic profiling of aRCC patients treated with TKIs and immune checkpoint inhibitors, uncovering an immunosuppressive microenvironment linked to therapeutic resistance.

Chen et al. report a crystal regulation strategy for 3D perovskites by using functional molecule to adsorb to specific perovskite facets and diminish random crystal facet-correlated defects, yielding pure-blue LEDs with emission peak at 473 nm, linewidth of only 14 nm, and efficiency of 14%.

Hu et al. report a low-temperature polar-solvent strategy for high-yield (162 mg mL⁻¹) perovskite nanocrystal synthesis with suppressed self-absorption. The scintillator films achieve ~7 ns fast decay, 28,800 photons MeV⁻¹ light yield, and dynamic X-ray imaging at 7,680 frame per second.

Nociceptive hypersensitivity and prolonged wound healing due to the interaction of peripheral neuropathy and local immune disorders hinder the regenerative repair of diabetic foot ulcer. Here, the authors report a low-intensity focused ultrasound-activated piezoelectric gel bandage with immune homeostasis modulation and neuropathic pain relief functions for comprehensive repair of diabetic wounds.

Sodium-ion batteries require electrolytes that withstand high voltages and low temperatures for commercial use. Here, authors design a non-flammable sulfonamide solvent with a melting point as low as −86 °C, enabling stable, conductive interphases on both electrodes. This electrolyte allows 1-Ah pouch cells to retain capacity at −60 °C/−70 °C and achieve long cycling stability (up to 81.6% after 1000 cycles at 4.2 V).

Network dismantling, crucial for optimizing systems like immunization and rumor control, faces challenges in integrating higher-order structures to identify key nodes. Here, the authors introduce a Higher-order Graph Neural Network framework, demonstrating superior efficiency and resilience in dismantling networks by accurately targeting minimal nodes, impacting fields from ecology to cybersecurity.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune condition and treatment options have limited efficacy. Here, by analysis clinical samples and employing preclinical models, the authors show that cGAMP levels are elevated in the plasma of patients with SLE and that loss of cGAS ameliorates symptoms in an imiquimod-induced lupus model. Importantly, they identify prasugel as a cGAS inhibitor with promising therapeutic potential.

Periodontitis treatment is challenged by senescent stem cells in the periodontal niche. Here, authors develop a multifunctional hydrogel that alleviates hypoxia and stem cell aging, and restores microbial balance to accelerate regeneration.

By employing a quantum spin correlation amplification method to magnify microscopic atomic changes into macroscopic magnetic signals, this study enables high-accuracy fatigue life prediction and early fracture warnings for large-scale structures.

Cancer stem cells contribute to cancer evasion and relapse by suppressing the immune response. Here, the authors identify sterol O-acyltransferase 1 (SOAT1) as a cancer stem cell immune checkpoint and propose that SOAT1 inhibition results in oxysterol-mediated reprogramming of intratumoral regulatory T cells via a trans-cellular 20SOHC-GPR132, ultimately enhancing anti-tumor immunity in various preclinical mouse models.

HorusEye is a foundation model for universal X-ray tomography restoration that learns realistic degradation directly from data. It supports imaging at substantially lower doses and reduces hardware requirements while improving expert analysis and downstream AI performance.

Both endogenous and exogenous signaling pathways are involved in the maintenance of self-renewal and pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Here, the authors uncover that endogenous VEGF signaling safeguards pluripotency and prevents extra-embryonic differentiation in primed hESCs via activation of transcription factor NANOG and suppression of BMP signaling activity.

Cultivated banana is threatened by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (TR4). In this study, the authors assemble the genome of Musa cheesmanii, a wild banana species that is highly resistant to TR4, and use it in crossbreeding with two cultivars to enhance disease resistance.

Copper nanoclusters are promising photothermal heaters, but their conversion efficiency is limited efficiency. Here, the authors present a rotor-stator ligand architecture that enables enhanced photothermal conversion efficiency of copper nanoclusters.

Using sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into fuels is appealing, but reactions are often inefficient. This study shows a photothermal catalyst that lets hydrogen move between sites, enabling selective conversion of carbon dioxide to methane.

Measurement-based quantum computing implements quantum algorithms by performing sequences of measurements on special classes of entangled states, such as cluster states. This approach has now been demonstrated on a superconducting quantum processor.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive lung disease characterized by scarring and impaired function, with vascular endothelial cells playing a key role in disease progression. Here, the authors show that endothelial mechanosensitive PIEZO1 promotes fibrosis by activating the CAPN2-STAT3-IL-33 signaling axis, identifying a promising therapeutic target for treatment.

SnRK1β1A in rice promotes susceptibility to multiple fungal diseases, and disrupting this infection-inducible gene confers broad-spectrum resistance without compromising growth or yield under normal field conditions.

In a prospective multi-centre cohort in China, people living in areas of high soil selenium had a 35% increased risk of incident diabetes over a 3-year study period, with a stronger effect seen for men.

Analysis combining multiple global tree databases reveals that whether a location is invaded by non-native tree species depends on anthropogenic factors, but the severity of the invasion depends on the native species diversity.

Genetic basis of the drought tolerance of upland rice is unclear. Here, the authors report the cloning of a COBRA-like protein encoding gene DROT1 and reveal that it is repressed by ERF3 and activated by ERF71 to help control the balance between growth and drought tolerance in upland rice.

Electrochemical nitrate reduction can simultaneously remove pollutants and produce ammonia but is often limited by hydrogen side reactions. This study shows that nanoconfined CuCo catalysts enable a proton-coupled electron transfer pathway that delivers highly selective, efficient and stable ammonia synthesis.

The genetic basis underlying resistance to Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) in oilseed rape remains elusive. Here, the authors identify BnaA07.MKK9 as a pivotal regulator of SSR resistance in oilseed rape by GWAS, providing new insights into plant defense mechanisms against necrotrophic pathogens.

A clinical trial testing whether monitoring ctDNA clearance during treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer could be used to inform decisions about an individual’s subsequent therapeutic programme shows promising results.

A machine-learning model that integrates data from wearable devices (such as smartwatches) with blood biomarkers and demographic data can predict whether someone has insulin resistance, enabling timely lifestyle interventions to prevent progression to type 2 diabetes.

Intestinal epithelium is continuously exposed to osmotic changes. Here, the authors show that this volume-regulated anion channel, a key osmo-sensitive ion channel, protects against colitis by balancing nutrient absorption and antimicrobial defense.

This study highlights the Wheat Spatial Omics Consortium, which aims to build a spatiotemporal single-cell atlas of wheat in response to different treatments, thereby contributing to the development of sustainable and climate-resilient wheat.

Farnesyl pyrophosphate—a mevalonate pathway metabolic intermediate—is an endogenous alarmin that enhances IgG antibody responses through keratinocyte-derived IL-6 and CCL20.

Thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) was identified as a synthetic-lethal target in p53-deficient cancers through alterations in double-stranded RNA accumulation. A covalent small-molecule inhibitor of TDG exhibited potent efficacy against p53-deficient tumors.

A tiny, articulated, near-complete osteichthyan from the early Silurian Chongqing Lagerstätte, represents the oldest osteichthyan occurrence including microfossils, and the earliest articulated remains of any bony fish in the fossil record.

Li et al. report feedback neurons based on perovskite memristors with a nickel single-atom modified reduced graphene oxide cathode. The device successfully implements an unsupervised learning network with over 50% clustering accuracy and cooperative learning for solving NP-hard combinatorial optimisation problem.

LipoID profiles lipid droplet interactions and identifies interorganelle regulators.

Liu, Kong, Cui, et al. test thymopentin as an adjuvant to oncolytic virotherapy and engineer an oncolytic adenovirus that expresses thymopentin. They show that thymopentin reprograms tumour macrophages and boosts tumour-killing T cells, improving tumour control and durable anti-tumour immunity across multiple models.

A new AI framework autonomously explores single-cell RNA sequencing datasets and produces creative, biologically relevant findings.

Photovoltaics based on kesterite materials have now achieved 15% efficiency after remaining at lower levels for years. In this Review, Jimenez-Arguijo et al. explore the critical roles of precursor chemistry and the formation pathway in enabling performance improvements in these complex multinary semiconductors.

This work reports a catalyst with atomically dispersed Fe and Pd dual sites for photothermal catalytic CH₄ oxidation, and demonstrates that the in-situ formation of charge-polarized regions can induce the polarization and cleavage of C-H bonds.

A new artificial intelligence model, DeepSeek-R1, is introduced, demonstrating that the reasoning abilities of large language models can be incentivized through pure reinforcement learning, removing the need for human-annotated demonstrations.

Combining metabolic theory with global datasets, Li et al. show that root water content is a stronger predictor of root growth traits than the widely considered root nitrogen, better reflecting fast acquisition strategies and leaf–root alignment.

Chen et al. identify a brain-to-bone communication axis whereby extracellular vesicles from aged brain neurons transport WDFY1 protein to distal bone, driving bone-fat imbalance and promoting osteoporosis.