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Certain RIFINs from Plasmodium falciparum can bind to both inhibitory (KIR2DL1) and activating (KIR2DS1) immune receptors on natural killer cells, demonstrating the potential role of activating killer immunoglobulin-like receptors in targeting pathogens and controlling malaria infection.

Bacterial pathogens produce enterobactin, which suppresses microbiota-derived indole activation of Ahr in macrophages to inhibit bacterial clearance and increase the severity of bacterial sepsis.

The processes that lead to losses of highly energetic particles from Earth’s radiation belts remain poorly understood. Here the authors compare observations and models of a 2013 event to show that electromagnetic ioncyclotron waves provide the dominant loss mechanism at ultra-relativistic energies.

Narcolepsy has genetic and environmental risk factors, but the specific genetic risk loci and interaction with environmental triggers are not well understood. Here, the authors identify genetic loci for narcolepsy, suggesting infection as a trigger and dendritic and helper T cell involvement.

Here the authors conduct a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of telomere length, used diverse approaches to identify genes underlying association signals, and experimentally validated POP5 and KBTBD6 as regulators of telomere length in human cells.

Over 170 susceptibility loci have been identified by genome-wide association studies in breast cancer. Here, the authors interrogated the role of risk-associated variants from non-breast tissue, and using expression quantitative trait loci, identify potential target genes of known breast cancer susceptibility variants, as well as 11 regions not previously known to be associated with breast cancer risk.

An analysis involving the shotgun sequencing of more than 300 ancient genomes from Eurasia reveals a deep east–west genetic divide from the Black Sea to the Baltic, and provides insight into the distinct effects of the Neolithic transition on either side of this boundary.

In this study, the authors present an analysis of the malaria burden in sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2015, and quantify the effects of the interventions that have been implemented to combat the disease; they find that the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection has been reduced by 50% since 2000 and the incidence of clinical disease by 40%, and that interventions have averted approximately 663 million clinical cases since 2000, with insecticide-treated bed nets being the largest contributor.

Commensal-colonization-factor-producing Bacteroidetes protect against Klebsiella pneumoniae colonization and infection in the gut via IL-36 signalling and macrophages, and these commensals can limit transmission between hosts, whereas Proteobacteria are important for colonization resistance in the upper airway.

Respiratory viral infection causes fast onset of pathology, and is often compounded by vaccination-resistant variants. Here, the authors show that a STING agonist nanoparticle, termed NanoSTING, helps protect against SARS-CoV-2 in hamsters and influenza in mice, thereby implicating NanoSTING as a broad-spectrum treatment for respiratory viral infections.

Jonathan Pritchard, Christopher Garcia and colleagues examine associations between different T cell receptor V genes and MHC alleles by eQTL mapping. They find that there are strong associations between MHC variation and T cell receptor gene usage and map these signals to specific MHC amino acids, many of which physically interact with germline-encoded amino acids on the T cell receptor.

Samples of different body regions from hundreds of human donors are used to study how genetic variation influences gene expression levels in 44 disease-relevant tissues.

Population-scale ancient genomics are used to infer ancestry, social structure and pathogen infection in 108 Scandinavian Neolithic individuals from eight megalithic graves and a stone cist, showing that Neolithic plague was widespread.

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).

Integrated data, including 100 human genomes from the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods show that two major population turnovers occurred over just 1,000 years in Neolithic Denmark, resulting in dramatic changes in the genes, diet and physical appearance of the local people, as well as the landscape in which they lived.

A case–control study investigating the causes of recent cases of acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in 32 children identifies an association between adeno-associated virus infection and host genetics in disease susceptibility.

The influence of climate on premodern civil conflict and societal instability is debated. Here, the authors combine archeological, historical, and paleoclimatic datasets to show that drought between 1400-1450 cal. CE escalated civil conflict at Mayapan, the largest Postclassic Maya capital of the Yucatán Peninsula.

An analysis of 101 ancient human genomes from the Bronze Age (3000–1000 bc) reveals large-scale population migrations in Eurasia consistent with the spread of Indo-European languages; individuals frequently had light skin pigmentation but were not lactose tolerant.

Armed conflicts pose significant problems for ensuring that regional conservation plans are implemented. Here, Hammill et al. show that offsetting the impacts of protected area loss through protection of additional areas during conflicts provides the greatest return on investment for conservation programs.

Spatiotemporal characterization of microbial diversity and antibiotic resistance in a tertiary-care hospital reveals broad distribution and persistence of antibiotic-resistant organisms that could cause opportunistic infections in a healthcare setting.

Many tumors evade immunosurveillance by down-modulating expression of antigen-processing machinery and MHC molecules. Yang et al. report triple-negative tumor cell expression of the lncRNA LINK-A enhances degradation of antigen peptide-loading complex molecules and intrinsic tumor suppressors, which contribute to tumor persistence.

Malnourished children experience a high burden of intestinal pathogens that exacerbate growth stunting, and preventing this pathogen overgrowth has proved challenging. Here the authors show that diet-specific bacterial crossfeeding contributes to the overgrowth of intestinal pathogens during child malnutrition.

Diffusion basis spectrum imaging (DBSI) is an MRI technique that offers non-invasive insights into cervical structure by imaging cellularity, collagen, and muscle fibers. Here, the authors apply DBSI on the human cervix during pregnancy both ex vivo and in vivo and reveal microstructural differences between term and preterm deliveries.

Analyses of expression profiles from whole blood of 31,684 individuals identify cis-expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) effects for 88% of genes and trans-eQTL effects for 37% of trait-associated variants.

The electronic band structure of (Ga,Mn)As has been debated due to contrasting reports of experimental findings from samples differently synthesized. Nĕmec et al.show that a careful optimization of the synthesis protocol is necessary to evaluate the intrinsic semiconducting and magnetic properties of (Ga,Mn)As.

Development of a constraint model specifically for mitochondrial DNA and applied to data from the Genome Aggregation Database provides insights into which sites in the mitochondrial genome are important for health and disease.

The authors generate genomic data from 30 ancient human individuals, spanning the Bronze Age and the Iron Age from four archaeological sites in the Mediterranean (located in Tunisia, Sardinia and central Italy). Comparing with additional published ancient genomes, they generate insights into mobility and admixture in this interconnected region

Non-human primates are important animal models for studying SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, Salguero et al. directly compare rhesus and cynomolgus macaques and show that both species represent COVID-19 disease of mild clinical cases, and provide a lung histopathology scoring system.

Information developed to understand the molecular mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection for predicting drug repurposing candidates is time-consuming to integrate and explore. Here, the authors develop an interactive online platform for virus-host interactome exploration and drug (target) identification.

Insecticide treated nets (ITNs) are an important part of malaria control in Africa and WHO targets aim for 80% coverage. This study estimates the spatio-temporal access and use of ITNs in Africa from 2000-2020, and shows that both metrics have improved over time but access remains below WHO targets.

The elimination of specific contaminants from high concentrations of competitors poses a significant challenge. Here the authors find that modifying the local environment of the direct contact site alters the interaction of a pyridinium-based anion nanotrap with pertechnetate.

Regulatory small RNA (sRNA) interact with mRNAs to regulate their stability, transcription, and translation via diverse mechanisms. Here, McKellar et al. apply RNase IIICLASH of multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus under different culture conditions to link the network of RNA-RNA interactions to environmental conditions and find that the production of small membrane-permeabilizing toxins is strongly regulated by sRNAs.

Viruses in built environments raise public health concerns. By analyzing diverse samples, Du et al. provide evidence that virus–host interactions occur frequently in built environments and that viruses are integral members of built environment microbiomes.

Chronic pancreatitis is a risk factor for the development of pancreatic cancer. Here authors report that coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) expression promotes pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer upon enterovirus infections.

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 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.

The authors show that rare genetic variants contribute to large gene expression changes across diverse human tissues and provide an integrative method for interpretation of rare variants in individual genomes.

Analysis of a large set of marine vibrios and their phages identifies mechanisms of phage–host coevolution.

Highlighting the importance of rare phenotypes in population persistence, the authors show that spring-run Chinook salmon late-migrant juveniles were critical for cohort success in drought and ocean heatwave years. Combined further warming and impassable dams threaten these late migrants’ survival.

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.