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Lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe is a parasitic forest pathogen that disperses its seeds via an explosive discharge. Here, deBruyn et al. show that ripened mistletoe fruits generate heat less than two minutes before this discharge, suggesting a role for thermogenesis in seed dispersal.

Ashley Winslow, Roy Perlis, David Hinds and colleagues report the identification of 15 genetic loci associated with risk of major depressive disorder in individuals of European descent. They find that several loci are also associated with risk of other psychiatric traits, including schizophrenia and neuroticism.

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).

The ability to synthesise lemniscular molecules to allow for the study and application of their chiroptical properties is a notable technical challenge. Herein, the authors report the design and synthesis of enantiomers of a [5]helicenoid derived molecular lemniscate, in which two homochiral helicenes are linked via the formation of two azine motifs.

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.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis of individuals with clinically assessed or self-reported depression identifies 44 independent risk loci. Comparisons with other psychiatric disorders and candidate gene analyses provide new insights into major depressive disorder.

Most studies of the genetics of the metabolome have been done in individuals of European descent. Here, the authors integrate genomics and metabolomics in Black individuals, highlighting the value of whole genome sequencing in diverse populations and linking circulating metabolites to human disease.

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.

David Hinds and colleagues report that a non-synonymous variant in PNPLA3 is associated with alcoholic liver disease and liver cirrhosis. This result follows previously reported associations of this variant with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

A genome-wide association study in ~3 million individuals identifies 3,952 independent variants associated with educational attainment. A polygenic index explains 12–16% of variance for this trait and contributes to risk prediction for ten diseases.

Controlling the chirality of self-assembled polyhedra is a synthetic challenge. Here, the authors stereoselectively form emissive lanthanide tetrahedral cages from a series of chiral ligands, and use their circularly polarized luminescence to explore the effect of ligand point chirality on supramolecular architecture.

A genetic study identifies hundreds of loci associated with risk tolerance and risky behaviors, finds evidence of substantial shared genetic influences across these phenotypes, and implicates genes involved in neurotransmission.

The authors conducted a genetic meta-analysis of depression and found 269 associated genes. These genes highlight several potential drug repositioning opportunities, and relationships with depression were found for neuroticism and smoking.

A genome-wide association study of critically ill patients with COVID-19 identifies genetic signals that relate to important host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage that may be targeted by repurposing drug treatments.

Recombination is a meiotic process that ensures accurate chromosome segregation. Here, the authors characterize recombination patterns in over 4,200 families. Their results show that recombination rate increases with maternal age, and highlight sex differences in the distribution of these events.

Transancestral GWAS meta-analysis in 160,420 individuals identifies 139 loci associated with refractive error, including myopia. Newly identified genes implicate pathways involved in eye growth and light signaling cascades.

Magnetic phases that are stabilized by quantum fluctuations in low dimensions are rare. A thickness-dependent crossover from three-dimensional antiferromagnetism to a two-dimensional vestigial nematic state that is driven by fluctuations has now been observed.

Pooled and sex-specific genome-wide association analyses identify new risk loci for restless legs syndrome and candidates for drug repurposing. Machine learning models combining genetic and other information show improved risk prediction performance.

The authors demonstrate control of antiferromagnetic order using helical light.

Optical second-harmonic waves are generated from the electric quadrupole contribution in a centrosymmetric magnetic Weyl semimetal Co₃Sn₂S₂. Two magnetic orders and phase transitions are explored in temperature-dependent rotational anisotropy measurements by second-harmonic generation.

Linda Kao and colleagues use admixture mapping to identify risk variants in MYH9 associated with nondiabetic end-stage renal disease in African Americans. The risk variants are more common in populations with West African ancestry and contribute to the excess burden of end-stage kidney diseases in these populations. A similar finding is reported in an accompanying paper by Cheryl Winkler and colleagues.

Different functional variants in ADH1B (and elsewhere) in Europeans and Africans strongly affect risk for alcohol dependence. Dependence only partly genetically correlates with consumption, with strong correlations to other psychiatric disorders.

Gene discovery and polygenic predictions from a genome-wide association study of educational attainment in 1.1 million individuals.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for neuroticism identifies novel loci, pathways and potential drug targets. Further analysis implicates specific brain regions and evaluates genetic overlap with other neuropsychiatric traits.

David Hinds and colleagues report results of a genome-wide association meta-analysis of self-reported allergy. They identify 16 shared susceptibility loci for allergic traits, including 8 loci previously associated with asthma.

This large-scale genome-wide association analysis of subjects with asthma, hay fever or eczema provides insights into the shared genetic basis of these allergic diseases. The findings suggest that these diseases partly co-occur because they share many genetic risk variants that dysregulate the expression of immune-related genes.

Measurements of vector correlations provide insight into the forces acting during molecular collisions, and are a stringent test of electronic-structure calculations. Now, non-intuitive dynamics of molecular collisions have been revealed by measuring the correlation between the relative velocities of the colliders and the molecular rotational angular momentum—before and after the collision—for NO(A ²Σ⁺) + Ne.

Daniel Benjamin, Meike Bartels, Philipp Koellinger and colleagues report a genome-wide association meta-analysis of subjective well-being, depressive symptoms and neuroticism. The study leverages a large sample size together with genetic correlations between the phenotypes to identify, with high confidence, loci associated with each phenotype.

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.

Genome-wide analyses in >1 million individuals identify new loci and pathways associated with insomnia. The findings implicate key brain areas and cell types in the neurobiology of insomnia and highlight potential targets for developing new treatments.