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Predicting the effects of missense variants is important in discovering disease risk genes and clinical genetic diagnostics. Here the authors introduce a deep learning method (MisFit) to estimate the fitness effects of all possible human missense variants using large population data, achieving superior performance in prioritizing risk variants in early-onset conditions.

Lung and gastrointestinal diseases often occur together. Here, the authors present a multi-ancestry study showing the shared genetic architecture between lung and gastrointestinal diseases.

Jiahao Sha, Xinru Wang, Hongbing Shen and colleagues report a genome-wide association study of non-obstructive azoospermia in Chinese men. They identify common variants near three genes (PRMT6, PEX10 and SOX5) associated with this form of male infertility.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have improved our understanding of the genetic basis of lung adenocarcinoma but known susceptibility variants explain only a small fraction of the familial risk. Here, the authors perform a two-stage GWAS and report 12 novel genetic loci associated with lung adenocarcinoma in East Asians.

Hongbing Shen and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for lung cancer in individuals of Han Chinese ancestry. The authors identify two new lung cancer susceptibility loci.

Hongbing Shen, Dongxin Lin, Yongyong Shi and colleagues identify two new susceptibility loci for non-cardia gastric cancer. They also confirm three previously reported risk loci for this gastric cancer subtype.

This paper presents a virus-like lipid nanoparticle decorated with spike proteins capable of carrying antigens, including mRNA and proteins, for vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Hongbing Shen and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Han Chinese populations. They identify two loci newly associated with HBV infection near HLA-C and UBLE2L3 and replicate previous associations at HLA-DP and HLA-DQ.

Hongbing Shen and colleagues identify three new susceptibility loci for lung cancer in the Chinese population. Their follow-up analyses suggest that two of these loci interact multiplicatively with smoking dose to influence lung cancer risk.

Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is a major cause of male infertility. Here, the authors provide insight into the genetic basis of NOA by identifying three new genetic risk loci in a genome-wide association study and reporting a fourth potential NOA susceptibility locus based on a Drosophilaknockdown experiment.

Analyses of whole-genome sequencing data in children and validation in mouse models show that offspring born from blastocyst-stage embryo transfer have shorter leukocyte telomere lengths.

It is unclear how often genetic mosaicism of chromosome X arises. Here, the authors examine women with cancer and cancer-free controls and show that X chromosome mosaicism occurs more frequently than on autosomes, especially on the inactive X chromosome, but is not linked to non-haematologic cancer risk

Cholangiocarcinoma is a heterogenous group of cancers, with large genetic variation seen within subtypes. Here, the authors find 12 significantly mutated genes and 5 focal CNA regions were found in perihilar cholangiocarcinoma, and identified METTL14 to have a potential tumour suppressive role.

Efficient mechanical energy harvesting approaches are needed. Here, Zhang et al. develop a plied carbon nanotube yarn that harvests mechanical energy upon stretching and lateral deformations, achieving 17.4 and 22.4% efficiencies for tensile and torsional harvesting, respectively.

Negative Poisson’s ratio, offering unusual properties, is displayed by several materials and predicted for graphene. This work demonstrates such behaviors in monolithic films with interconnected networks of close-packed graphene laminates, and tunability through the chemistry and microstructures.

p53 is an oncosuppressor regulating several genes at the transcriptional level. Here, the authors identify a negative feedback loop between PHLDB3 and p53; PHLDB3 is a transcriptional target of p53 which facilitates MDM2-mediated p53 ubiquitination and degradation, impacting on tumorigenesis.

It is unclear which signals regulate the establishment of the tooth signalling centre, the enamel knot (EK). Here, the authors show that EK formation depends on αE-catenin, which acts to restrict the Hippo pathway transcription factors Yes-associated protein (YAP) and TAZ.

Under conditions of energy starvation, the p38β–PRAK pathway is activated and inhibits mTORC1 by phosphorylating the small GTPase Rheb. This finding links a major stress response pathway with energy homeostasis.

Genome-wide association studies have been performed to identify genetic variants that are associated with susceptibility to colorectal cancer. Here, the authors expand on these studies and identify a variant that regulates the expression of ETV6 and find that over-expression of ETV6 blocks cell proliferation in vitro.

Dongxin Lin and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in Chinese populations, identifying nine new susceptibility loci. They also perform a genome-wide gene-environment interaction analysis with alcohol consumption, a known risk factor for ESCC.

Qing Lan and colleagues report the results of a genome-wide association study of lung cancer in never-smoking women from Asia. They identify three new susceptibility loci and confirm three other previously reported associations.

Dongxin Lin, Philip Taylor, Li-Dong Wang and colleagues have now pooled three genome-wide association analyses of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, finding two new risk loci at genome-wide significance and an HLA class II locus of significance in high-risk populations. They reanalyze the strength of evidence for previously published risk loci.

Yinghao Sun and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for prostate cancer in Han Chinese men. They identify two new risk-associated loci at chromosomes 9q31 and 19q13.

Long Yu and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for hepatitis B virus–related hepatocellular carcinoma (HBV-HCC). They report that genetic variants in STAT4 and HLA-DQ genes confer risk of HBV-HCC.

Ding Ma, Xing Xie, Yongyong Shi and colleagues report a genome-wide association study of cervical cancer in the Han Chinese population. They identify two new susceptibility lociat 4q12 and 17q12.

Air lasing is a cavity-free lasing action that is generated in air owing to the plasma filamentation process of high-power femtosecond laser pulses. The authors demonstrate that air lasing can be used to generate structured light, obtaining optical vortex beams and optical vector beams via superfluorescence from N₂⁺.