{"title":"Using genetics to mimic drug interactions","authors":"Pamela Yeh","doi":"10.1038/s41576-026-01003-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41576-026-01003-8","url":null,"abstract":"In this Journal Club, Pamela Yeh recalls a landmark study by Bollenbach et al. that used genetic perturbations in Escherichia coli to uncover the mechanism underlying a classic suppressive drug interaction.","PeriodicalId":19067,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Genetics","volume":"27 10","pages":"743-743"},"PeriodicalIF":51.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148795999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Genetics and genomics of hybridization","authors":"Molly Schumer, Loren H. Rieseberg","doi":"10.1038/s41576-026-00995-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41576-026-00995-7","url":null,"abstract":"Once considered rare in some species groups, we now appreciate that hybridization between distinct lineages is a feature of essentially all branches of the eukaryotic tree of life. Determining the drivers of hybridization across species and locally along genomes is not just a question of history; it is fundamental to understanding genomic variation, adaptation and even disease risk across diverse species. Here, we start by reviewing methodological advances that may improve our understanding of the frequency of hybridization and its evolutionary effects. Next, we compile results from traditional and genomic sources of evidence to estimate the incidence of hybridization in nature and discuss the causes and consequences of this key evolutionary process. Finally, we highlight open questions, including whether hybridization promotes diversification, and how such questions could be addressed in the future. Hybridization, the exchange of genes between divergent lineages, is now recognized as widespread across eukaryotes and essential to understanding genome evolution. In this Review, Schumer and Rieseberg overview methodological advances facilitating recent progress, reassess the frequency, causes and consequences of hybridization, and highlight key open questions.","PeriodicalId":19067,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Genetics","volume":"27 11","pages":"840-854"},"PeriodicalIF":51.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148713277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"AI-based multimodal integration of genomics and electronic health records","authors":"Rasika Venkatesh, Marylyn D. Ritchie","doi":"10.1038/s41576-026-00992-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41576-026-00992-w","url":null,"abstract":"The widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), which capture patient-specific longitudinal information on diagnoses, laboratory tests, clinical procedures, and outcomes, has created unprecedented opportunities to study diseases at scale. Integrating EHR data with genomic information offers novel ways to understand disease heterogeneity, identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and predict disease risk to improve clinical decision-making at scale. Recent methodological advances in machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) can handle data with high dimensionality, high levels of noise, and irregular temporality better than traditional statistical approaches. Progress in EHR-linked biobank development, data standardization pipelines, and architectures for modelling and implementation have accelerated the advancement of the field and warrant an assessment of current capabilities and limitations. This Review highlights AI and ML frameworks for integrating genomic, multi-omics, and EHR data, and discusses how these approaches are reshaping genomics research as well as clinical practice. This Review covers advances in artificial intelligence-based methods for multimodal modelling of genomics and electronic health record data, and the integration of these data into electronic-health-record-based research and clinical workflows to support genomics-enabled clinical decision, with an emphasis on governance and equitable implementation.","PeriodicalId":19067,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Genetics","volume":"27 11","pages":"821-839"},"PeriodicalIF":51.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148707167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The genetics of complex gene expression phenotypes illuminated","authors":"Christian R. Landry","doi":"10.1038/s41576-026-00999-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41576-026-00999-3","url":null,"abstract":"Christian Landry reflects on a 2002 study by Brem, Yvert and colleagues, which combined yeast genetics and genome-wide expression profiling to reveal the genetic architecture underlying gene expression and transformed our understanding of regulatory variation.","PeriodicalId":19067,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Genetics","volume":"27 10","pages":"742-742"},"PeriodicalIF":51.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148689668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Embracing non-linearity in human ageing.","authors":"Robin Grolaux, Andrew E Teschendorff, Nir Eynon","doi":"10.1038/s41576-026-00993-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-026-00993-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ageing process is often portrayed as a steady linear decline, as reflected by the methodological frameworks used to study it. Although linear models successfully capture relevant age-related mechanisms, they may fail to identify key transition states occurring during the lifespan. Indeed, ageing entails a series of transitions - from early development, through adolescence, to older age - that are each characterized by distinct biological remodelling events. The study of these underlying patterns, through an appropriate framework, is essential because interventions may only be effective during specific windows when the system transitions to a new state. This Perspective highlights the evidence for non-linearity in ageing, overviews current analytical approaches to capture non-linear processes and then discusses important considerations for ageing research going forward.</p>","PeriodicalId":19067,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Genetics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":51.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148670132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bidirectional functional genomics using CRISPR-KOALA","authors":"Khalid N. Al-Zahrani","doi":"10.1038/s41576-026-00997-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41576-026-00997-5","url":null,"abstract":"In this Tools of the Trade article, Khalid Al-Zahrani introduces CRISPR-KOALA, a new CRISPR-based platform that enables simultaneous loss- and gain-of-function screening in vivo, helping to pinpoint cancer driver genes hidden within large chromosome-scale copy number alterations.","PeriodicalId":19067,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Genetics","volume":"27 11","pages":"818-818"},"PeriodicalIF":51.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148648916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Towards quantifying immune diversity through HLA genomics","authors":"Dinesh Velayutham, Zainab Jan, Puthen Veettil Jithesh, Hamdi Mbarek","doi":"10.1038/s41576-026-00996-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41576-026-00996-6","url":null,"abstract":"Emerging computational approaches that measure the functional impact of HLA variation offer an opportunity to represent aspects of antigen-presentation diversity as quantitative genomic measures rather than as solely as categorical genetic features. The era of population genomics now provides the scale needed to benchmark these approaches and determine whether such measures can serve as proxies for immune diversity. Computational metrics such as HLA evolutionary divergence offer new ways to quantify functional variation in antigen presentation. In this Comment, the authors discuss how population-scale genomics can benchmark these approaches and assess their potential as quantitative measures of human immune diversity.","PeriodicalId":19067,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Genetics","volume":"27 11","pages":"816-817"},"PeriodicalIF":51.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148648903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rahagir Salekeen, Tra L. Kieu, Paul D. Robbins, Laura J. Niedernhofer, Linshan Laux
{"title":"Genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic regulation of cellular senescence","authors":"Rahagir Salekeen, Tra L. Kieu, Paul D. Robbins, Laura J. Niedernhofer, Linshan Laux","doi":"10.1038/s41576-026-00982-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41576-026-00982-y","url":null,"abstract":"Cellular senescence is a complex, highly regulated cell state induced by cellular damage and stress. Senescence is central to many areas of biology, with roles in tumour suppression, tissue regeneration, antiviral defence and diverse age-related pathologies. Senescence is characterized by stable cell cycle arrest, metabolic alterations, chromatin remodelling and the secretion of pro-inflammatory and tissue-modifying factors that are collectively termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Recent technological advances, including new genetic models, single-cell and spatial multi-omics platforms and machine-learning approaches, promise to enable the phenotyping, tracing and manipulation of senescent cells with unprecedented precision and resolution. This Review defines our current understanding of the genetic pathways that regulate senescence induction, maintenance, propagation and heterogeneity, including the DNA damage response, non-genotoxic stress pathways, epigenetic changes and cell–cell communication. We also emphasize key challenges in distinguishing senescence from other cell fates and the need for next-generation biomarkers to capture the varied phenotypes and functions of senescent cells. Senescence — a complex, dynamic and heterogeneous stress-responsive cell state — shapes ageing biology and tissue homeostasis. This Review examines the molecular regulation of senescence initiation, maintenance and propagation, highlighting the need for revised mechanistic frameworks and biomarkers to define and target senescent cells.","PeriodicalId":19067,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Genetics","volume":"27 11","pages":"855-876"},"PeriodicalIF":51.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148620767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Human genetics across levels of biological organization.","authors":"Diederik S Laman Trip, Pedro Beltrao","doi":"10.1038/s41576-026-00991-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-026-00991-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Genetic variation influences human physiology across biological scales from molecules to cells, tissues, organs and the whole organism. Unravelling how variants and their genetic effects propagate across these levels, through molecular interactions, cellular programmes and tissue architectures, to shape phenotypes remains a central challenge in human genetics. Resolving this challenge requires deciphering the genetic architecture of each biological layer and developing systems-level analyses that aim to integrate across scales. Network-based and computational approaches, including artificial intelligence, offer opportunities to move beyond statistical associations towards a context-aware, mechanistic understanding of the genetics underlying human traits and disease, although integration across layers remains limited. Here we review recent advances in mapping genetic effects across biological scales, from intracellular networks that capture molecular interactions, through single-cell and spatial omics approaches that define cellular and tissue contexts, to population-scale imaging genomics that links genetic variation to organ-level and organismal phenotypes. We discuss emerging strategies and remaining challenges for integrating these layers into mechanistic models of genotype-phenotype relationships.</p>","PeriodicalId":19067,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Genetics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":51.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148579525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stomata — guarding the gates against bacterial invasion","authors":"Tatsuya Nobori \u0000 (, )","doi":"10.1038/s41576-026-00994-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41576-026-00994-8","url":null,"abstract":"In this Journal Club, Tatsuya Nobori recalls a landmark paper by Melotto et al., who showed that stomata are active components of plant innate immunity rather than passive entry points for bacterial pathogens.","PeriodicalId":19067,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Genetics","volume":"27 10","pages":"741-741"},"PeriodicalIF":51.4,"publicationDate":"2026-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148459530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}