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A study reports the development and validation of a wrist-worn, consumer wearable-based system that identifies sudden loss of pulse events with a performance profile suitable for societal-scale use.

Fine-mapping of causal variants and integration of epigenetic and chromatin conformation data identify likely target genes for 150 breast cancer risk regions.

Scaling back a massive payments for ecosystem services programme in China had negative impacts on income, but not in villages with stronger land rights and more job training, providing partial support for the behavioural permanence hypothesis.

The extent, origins and consequences of genetic variation within human cell lines are studied, providing a framework for researchers to measure such variation in efforts to support maximally reproducible cancer research.

Openshaw and colleagues find myeloid inflammation and complement activation signatures in patients with long COVID who were previously hospitalized.

In breast cancer the contribution of different genetic variants to disease heritability is complex and not fully understood. Here, the authors present a network-based analysis in 84,567 patients studying ~7.3 million variants, identifying gene modules associated with breast cancer survival.

Analysis of 20 chemical and morphological plant traits at diverse sites across 6 continents shows that the transition from semi-arid to arid zones is associated with an unexpected 88% increase in trait diversity.

Protection afforded by inorganic minerals is assumed to make mineral-associated organic carbon less susceptible to loss under climate change than particulate organic carbon. However, a global study of soil organic carbon from drylands suggests that this is not the case.

Identifying a complex panel of bias dimensions to be evaluated, a framework is proposed to assess how prone large language models are to biased reasoning, with possible consequences on equity-related harms, and is applied to a large-scale and diverse user survey on Med-PaLM 2.

Genome-wide analysis identifies 32 loci associated with breast cancer susceptibility, accounting for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status and tumor grade.

Very early observations of a type Ia supernova—from within one hour of explosion—show a red colour that develops and rapidly disappears. These data provide information on the initial explosion mechanism: surface nuclear burning on the white dwarf or extreme mixing of the nuclear burning process.

Emerging knowledge of the normal breast cell types has led to the hypothesis that the subtypes of breast cancer might arise from mutations or genetic rearrangements that occur in different populations of stem cells and progenitor cells. The authors of this Review describe the common distinguishing features of these breast cancer subtypes and explain how these relate both to prognosis and to selection of the most appropriate therapy.

Experiments in mouse pluripotent embryonic and epiblast stem cells show that TRF2 is dispensable for telomere protection specifically specifically in the pluripotent cells that form during early embryonic development, when cells form T-loops independently of this protein.

A genome-wide association study of thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD) in the Million Veteran Program identifies 17 new risk loci and demonstrates that the genetic architecture of TAAD mirrors that of other complex traits.

Turajlic and colleagues assess longitudinal antibody and cellular immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in patients with cancer, following either recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination, in two back-to-back reports from the CAPTURE study.

A chemically synthesized analog of Bacillus cereus secondary cell wall polysaccharide (SCWP) facilitates the identification of PatB1 as a SCWP O-acetyltransferase, and the structure of PatB1 provides insights into its catalytic mechanism.

In the first SARS-CoV-2 challenge study in humans, 36 young, healthy adult participants were intranasally inoculated with virus and monitored for productive infection, symptoms, virus kinetics, antibody response and safety in a controlled setting.

High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma is often associated with TP53 mutation and chromosomal instability (CIN). Here, the authors generate ex vivo cultures from biopsies and ascites of patients and perform characterization to evaluate CIN mechanisms and compare drug sensitivity with patient responses.

A metabolite screen of pancreatic cells shows that pancreatic cancer cells metabolize uridine-derived ribose via UPP1, supporting redox balance, survival and proliferation.

Genome-wide meta-analysis of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and severity phenotypes in up to 756,646 samples identifies a rare protective variant proximal to ACE2. A 6-SNP genetic risk score provides additional predictive power when added to known risk factors.

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.

Epilepsies are common brain disorders and are classified based on clinical phenotyping, imaging and genetics. Here, the authors perform genome-wide association studies for 3 broad and 7 subtypes of epilepsy and identify 16 loci - 11 novel - that are further annotated by eQTL and partitioned heritability analyses.

An exciting genome-wide association study in the British population for seven common diseases. This analysis confirms previously identified loci and provides strong evidence for many novel disease susceptibility loci.

Breast cancer is a multifactorial condition, and changes in cellular biology are affected by a large number of variables known to affect an individual's susceptibility to this malignancy. Current risk prediction models are based on combinations of risk factors and have good predictive but low discriminatory power. Risk estimation might be improved by incorporating additional factors into risk prediction models, which will allow better determination of breast cancer risk and provide new targets for preventive therapies.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in females in most western countries, with about 1 in 10 women at risk of developing the disease in the course of their lifetimes. Since its introduction over 30 years ago, tamoxifen has been the mainstay of the endocrine treatment of breast cancer. It has become the most widely used anticancer drug, and may be thought of as among the first targeted therapies. Yet the results of a major new trial of endocrine therapy after surgery for breast cancer using aromatase inhibitors cast into question tamoxifen's future role.

Janey Wiggs, Jonathan Haines and colleagues identify three new susceptibility loci for primary open-angle glaucoma. The association signals map near genes implicated in ocular development (FOXC1), neurodegeneration (ATXN2) and mitochondrial function (TXNRD2).