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Although ketenes are important intermediates in chemical synthesis, the high reactivity of difluoroketene has impeded its controlled generation and practical application. Here, the authors report a transition-metal-free strategy for its mild, in situ production from difluorobromoacetylsilane, enabling cycloadditions, rearrangements and difluoroacetylations.

High-latitude soils are future soil organic carbon loss hotspots, with losses dominated by particulate organic carbon (POC). The fraction of POC in total SOC (f_POC) is a key indicator, emphasizing the climate importance of preserving POC.

The cellular origin and developmental trajectory of DICER1 syndrome-associated tumors are currently unknown. Here, the authors employ a lineage-traceable genetically modified mouse model for DICER1 syndrome to identify universal fibroblasts as the likely cellular origin of mouse Dicer1 sarcoma and map their developmental trajectory, findings that are validated in human DICER1 mesenchymal tumors.

Amur grape (Vitis amurensis) is a hardy vine known for its resilience in cold climates. Here, the authors construct a phased graph-based pangenome based on the eight haplotype-resolved genomes and reveal the association of transposable elements-linked variants with climate adaptation.

Co-exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics and benzo(a)pyrene exacerbates lung inflammation and fibrosis via Relaxin-Ca²⁺–MET signalling, unveiling potential therapeutic targets.

Yang, Zeng et al. investigate associations between maternal metabolic profiles during early pregnancy and offspring development using untargeted metabolomics in the Shanghai Birth Cohort. Several metabolites are associated with offspring birth weight and cognitive development in childhood and reflect sex-specific patterns.

Phase-change memories require effective ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selectors to eliminate leakage currents. A charge-triggered switching mechanism is identified in amorphous elemental selenium and shown to make it an effective OTS selector that can achieve a leakage current of 4 × 10⁻¹² A.

Compact Un1Cas12f1 enzyme suits AAV delivery but is limited by narrow PAMs and modest activity. Here, authors engineer evoCas12f to recognize broader NTNR/NYTR PAMs and boost editing efficiency up to 91%, enabling efficient multiplex editing, base editing, and gene activation in cells and mice.

Chen et al. introduce SequenTx, a virtual-cell-inspired framework for the rational design of sequential therapy. It offers a computational strategy to navigate therapy-induced tumour evolution by modelling dynamic cellular state transitions.

Tan and colleagues develop DNA nanodevices to detect the pH of the lysosomal outer surface, observing an acidic layer generated by TMEM175 that regulates lysosome positioning in response to changes in juxta-lysosomal pH.

Engineered mucus-tethering bispecific nanobodies neutralize and entrap viruses to enhance mucosal immunity, preventing influenza infection and limiting SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

It was previously shown that Zinc deficiently worsens alcoholic liver disease. This study identified muscle-derived MG53 is transported to liver and mitigates liver damage through alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase

CRISPR-Cas12a diagnostics are limited by strict PAM requirements. Here, authors show that higher temperatures activate numerous noncanonical PAMs, enabling a versatile one-pot platform that improves sensitivity, specificity, and rapid on-site pathogen detection.

Butenolides are important features of many bioactive compounds but known butenolide biosynthetic pathways are complex and challenging to harness. In this study, the authors report that avenolide, a 4-alkylbutenolide that regulates avermectin production in Streptomyces avermitilis, is assembled from a fatty acyl thioester by a multifunctional flavoenzyme and an iterative cytochrome P450.

The researchers exploit lattice-anchoring-enhanced dynamic repair in organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites to demonstrate a single-crystal detector with a sensitivity of 165.6 μC mGy⁻¹ cm⁻³ and radiation stability under high-fluence 6-MeV X-rays (6.4 × 10¹¹ photons cm⁻²) and 1.2-MeV electrons (6 × 10¹⁶ electrons cm⁻²). The findings may have implications for diverse applications, including radiation therapy, astronomy and nuclear technology.

Alloy anodes can boost the energy density of Na-ion batteries but suffer from instability, and current strategies trade off performance and scalability. Here the authors develop a high-loading Sn anode reinforced with single-walled carbon nanotube networks, achieving high capacity and long-term cycling performance.

Current anion exchange membrane water electrolysers are hindered by poor performance in pure water. Here, the authors report a strategy that creates built-in alkaline microenvironments, enabling high performance and long-term stability using only pure water.

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.

Monocytes derived from bone marrow leucocytes are chemically conjugated with a Tau-specific aptamer via bioorthogonal chemistry, enabling systemic delivery across the blood–brain barrier and targeted clearance of extracellular Tau in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models.

CO electroreduction offers a sustainable route to acetate production but remains mechanistically unclear. Here, the authors develop an active learning multiscale framework revealing CH* binding strength as the key descriptor, predicting Cu/Pd and Cu/Ag as optimal catalysts.

Base editors (BEs) enable precise base substitutions but are limited by their large size. Here, the authors engineer a split BE system utilizing coiled-coil heterodimers (CC-BE) and demonstrate that CC-BEs maintain or even enhance efficiency, enabling gene therapy applications via dual AAV.

This study shows that the wheat major QTL gene-encoded sugar metabolic enzyme HtL1/FBA10 undergoes vernalization-induced dynamic changes in O-GlcNAcylation and phosphorylation, enhancing its enzymatic activity and increasing VRN1 gene expression for flowering.

Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks are promising as high-capacity iodine adsorbents. Here the authors image the gaseous I₂ adsorption on single ZIF-90 particles, clarifying the inter-particle heterogeneity in adsorption reactivity and performance improvement after introduction of linker defects .

EviDTI introduces an evidential deep learning framework for drug-target interaction prediction, providing reliable uncertainty estimates to prioritize high-confidence predictions. It identifies potential tyrosine kinase modulators, thereby improving the efficiency of drug discovery.

This Review examines how artificial intelligence (AI) systems optimize energy and information networks independently, then coordinate renewable energy supply with traffic demand across both. This Review also assesses the carbon emissions of AI systems from their training, deployment and use, and hardware life cycle, outlining strategies to ensure the environmental benefits of AI systems outweigh their costs.

This study shows that the transcriptional targets of NANOG recruits UTP15 to gene promoters in mESCs. There, UTP15 supports the formation of Pol II condensates, thereby activating pluripotency gene transcription independently of its classic role.

This study shows that optimally sized nanocarriers reach Duchenne muscular dystrophy muscle primarily through transcytosis, where they can deliver tamoxifen to improve muscle health and strength in mice.

A study shows the maximum techno-economically constrained CO₂ storage rate is 16 GtCO₂ yr^-1 by 2050, with 60% reliant on the USA, highlighting geographical discrepancies with current IPCC projections. A more feasible benchmark is 5-6 GtCO₂ yr⁻¹.

Material implementation of machine learning algorithms for advanced computing at cryogenic temperature remains rare. Here, the authors report a cryogenic in-memory computing platform using chiral edge states of magnetic topological insulators.

Isotropic tissue magnification is integrated with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging to enable untargeted spatial proteomics at micrometre resolution and with high protein identification rates in multiple tissue types.

Improved cytosine base editors are created by repurposing an adenine deaminase.

Blood cancers generally derive from the bone marrow but there are no current targeted treatments. Here the authors present a bone-marrow-targeting nanoparticle that can bind and pull together tumour and natural killer cells for selective elimination of cancer cells, offering a strategy for the treatment of haematologic cancers.

Chen, Hu, Zhao, Fang and colleagues show that the ribosomal large subunit protein Rpl12 functions as a conserved ribophagy receptor in multiple organisms.

Fluorochemicals pose significant environmental challenges due to their persistence and strong C–F bonds. Here, the authors engineer transaminases to catalyze a hydrodefluorination reaction of perfluorinated methylene groups, achieving efficient biodegradation of difluorinated ketones.

The structural complexity of glycans seriously challenges the currently available analytical methods. Here, the authors report the identification of glycan isomers, glycans with varying chain lengths, and distinct branched glycans, via a glycan derivatization strategy and nanopore sensing.