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Neuroscientist who helped to reveal how the brain processes visual information.

Combined analysis of new genomic data from 116 ancient hunter-gatherer individuals together with previously published data provides insights into the genetic structure and demographic shifts of west Eurasian forager populations over a period of 30,000 years.

The palaeogenomic analysis of a pre-Neolithic skeleton associated with a Toalean burial context from Wallacea.

Wood et al. examine gender differences in Hadza hunter-gatherer spatial behaviour using 2,078 days of GPS-recorded travel. As predicted from principles of foraging ecology, Hadza men walked further per day, explored more land, followed more sinuous paths and were much more likely to be alone.

A previously unsampled deep lineage in central Argentina was discovered that had distinctive genetic drift by 8,500 bp and persisted as the main Native American ancestry component in the region up to the present day.

Genome-wide ancient DNA data from 225 individuals who lived in southeastern Europe between 12000 and 500 bc reveals that the region acted as a genetic crossroads before and after the arrival of farming.

Ancient DNA reveals how the explosive expansion of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists began with a small community north of the Black Sea speaking ancestral Indo-European, and detects genetic links with Anatolian speakers, stemming from a common Indo-Anatolian homeland in the North Caucasus–lower Volga region.

Genome-wide sequencing of 180 ancient individuals shows a continuous gradient of ancestry in Early-to-Mid-Holocene hunter-gatherers from the Baltic to the Transbaikal region and distinct contemporaneous groups in Northeast Siberia, and provides insights into the origins of modern Uralic and Yeniseian speakers.

Whole-genome sequencing analysis of 81 prehistoric individuals reveals how the genetic makeup of people from the North Pontic region was influenced by waves of migration during the Eneolithic period and Early Bronze Age.

Central Anatolia harbored some of the earliest farming societies outside the Fertile Crescent of the Near East. Here, the authors report and analyze genome-wide data from a 15,000-year-old Anatolian hunter-gatherer and from seven Anatolian and Levantine early farmers, and suggest high genetic continuity between the hunter-gatherers and early farmers of Anatolia.

Here, the authors show that the skin microbiome of a remote hunter-gatherer Yanomami community harbors environmental microbes that help maintain skin barrier integrity and combat oxidative stress—functions that are reduced by industrial lifestyles.

Genome-wide ancestry profiles of four individuals, dating to 8,000 and 3,000 years before present, from the archaeological site of Shum Laka (Cameroon) shed light on the deep population history of sub-Saharan Africa.

In European Neolithic populations, the arrival of farmers prompted admixture with local hunter-gatherers over many centuries, resulting in distinct signatures in each region due to a complex series of interactions.

Ancient DNA from the eastern Maghreb (Tunisia and Algeria) dating between 15,000 and 6,000 years ago shows that this region was far less affected by external gene flow than the rest of the Neolithic Mediterranean, including not only Europe but also the western Maghreb (Morocco).

The population history of Europe is complex and its very north has not yet been comprehensively studied at a genetic level. Here, Mittnik et al. report genome-wide data from 38 ancient individuals from the Eastern Baltic, Russia and Scandinavia to analyse gene flow throughout the Mesolithic and Bronze Age.

Alexander Immel et al. performed genome-wide analyses of 42 individuals from a collective burial in Niedertiefenbach, Germany from the Wartberg Culture. The authors find that this population had a large hunter-gatherer ancestry component and a distinct HLA pool, which indicates immune defenses against viral pathogens.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

Analysis of DNA from ancient individuals of the Near East documents the extreme substructure among the populations which transitioned to farming, a structure that was maintained throughout the transition from hunter–gatherer to farmer but that broke down over the next five thousand years.

Systematic comparison of genome-wide association results for disease risk and disease-specific mortality for nine common diseases across seven biobanks finds limited overlap between genetic effects on disease susceptibility and survival.

Genome-wide data from 400 individuals indicate that the initial spread of the Beaker archaeological complex between Iberia and central Europe was propelled by cultural diffusion, but that its spread into Britain involved a large-scale migration that permanently replaced about ninety per cent of the ancestry in the previously resident population.

Lydon-Staley and colleagues examine intrinsic information seeking and find that individuals who tend to seek information that eliminates knowledge gaps move between similar concepts and tend to return to previously visited concepts.

A genomic study of 125 individuals from the Carpathian Basin (4800–3900 BCE) reveals different kinship systems in nearby Copper Age communities, and highlights both genetic continuity and contrasting patterns of social organization.

Fatty acid desaturase genes encode enzymes for the biosynthesis of fatty acids that are essential for individuals with plant-based diets. Here, the authors show positive selection on alternative alleles in Europeans before and after the onset of farming and strongest selection in Southern European farmers.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

Genome-wide data from 166 East Asian individuals dating to between 6000 bc and ad 1000 and from 46 present-day groups provide insights into the histories of mixture and migration of human populations in East Asia.

DNA analyses of Mesolithic and Neolithic individuals indicates the British Neolithic transition was mediated by incoming continental farmers, with little gene flow from local hunter-gatherers.

A sequencing study comparing ancient and contemporary genomes reveals that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, ancient north Eurasians (related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians) and early European farmers of mainly Near Eastern origin.

The Scythian culture was widespread throughout the Eurasian Steppe during the 1^stmillennium BCE. This study provides genetic evidence for two independent origins for the Scythians in the eastern and western steppe with varying proportions of Yamnaya and East Asian ancestry, and gene flow among them.

Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic genomes from western Europe and the Caucasus reveal a previously undescribed strand of Eurasian ancestry with a deep divergence from other hunter-gatherer genomes. This had a profound impact on ancient and modern populations from the Atlantic to Central Asia.

A study presents archaeogenomic data for 131 individuals from 38 sites spanning 6,000 years, and details the demographic processes of the Caucasus and the surrounding steppe zone throughout the Bronze Age.

Picks include a quantum pioneer, a co-discoverer of Ebola and a bioethicist-turned-activist.

Hunter-gatherer populations in Africa preserve unique information about human history, but genetic sub-structures of these populations remain unclear. Using newly designed microarray and statistical methods, these authors analyse genetic compositions of southern African populations and reveal an ancient link between southern and eastern Africa.

Analyses of 3,514 whole-genome-sequenced individuals from Sardinia indicate that within-island substructure and sex-biased processes have impacted the genetic history of Sardinia, providing new insight into the demography of ancestral Sardinians.

The genomic landscape of diffuse gliomas remains to be characterised. Here, the authors perform whole genome sequencing of 403 tumours and identify recurrent coding and non-coding genetic mutations, their associations with clinical outcomes and potential therapeutic targets.

A complementary analysis of DESI DR2 distance measurements along with supernova and CMB data shows consistent, moderate evidence that dark energy changes over time rather than behaving as a simple cosmological constant.

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.

A genome-wide analysis of 69 ancient Europeans reveals the history of population migrations around the time that Indo-European languages arose in Europe, when there was a large migration into Europe from the Eurasian steppe in the east (providing a genetic ancestry still present in Europeans today); these findings support a ‘steppe origin’ hypothesis for how some Indo-European languages arose.

Gelabert et al. examine genomic and archaeological data from Europe’s earliest farming communities in Central Europe (5500–5000 bce). They find differentiated genetic networks but no evidence of unequal access to resources linked to sex or kin.

Ancient DNA from Soqotra, an island off the coast of Yemen, evidences a population history differing from other areas of the Arabian Peninsula and suggests there has not been complete population replacement throughout the region between the Pleistocene and Holocene.

Proteins in the fungal plasma membrane are key antifungal targets but their native structure and spatial distribution are poorly understood. Here, Jiang et al. use proteomics and cryo-electron tomography to investigate the organisation of membrane proteins in the fungal plasma membrane and how this is affected by antifungal drugs.