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Quantifying the contributions of climate change and adaptation to mortality from unprecedented extreme heat events

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. SignificanceWe revisit the August 2003 heat wave in France to better understand the influences of climate change and human adaptation on mortality from unprecedented extreme heat events. We reconfirm previous findings of approximately 16,000 excess deaths …

Occludin acts as a dynein adaptor regulating permeability and collateral angiogenesis

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. SignificanceLoss of the blood–brain and blood–retinal barrier contributes to a variety of diseases of the central nervous system such as stroke and brain tumors, and blinding eye diseases like diabetic retinopathy. Here, we demonstrate that the carboxy …

Cryo-EM structure of the Rift Valley fever virus envelope protein in complex with a potent neutralization antibody

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. SignificanceRift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a zoonotic mosquito-borne pathogen that poses significant public health threats. However, RVFV vaccine development is hindered by limited knowledge on the assembly of viral glycoproteins Gn and Gc. This study …

Asymmetrical recognition and processing of double-strand breaks formed during DNA replication

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. SignificanceDNA end resection is a critical early step in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) by homologous recombination (HR). Studies using endonucleases that generate DSBs in all phases of the cell cycle have shown that end resection proceeds …

Oxytocin varies across the life course in a sex-specific way in a human subsistence population

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. SignificanceThe hormone oxytocin is linked to reproduction, social bonding, and health. To date, no single study has investigated oxytocin in both sexes across the life course. Working with the Tsimane of lowland Bolivia—a subsistence population with high …

Individual incentives that promote collective intelligence

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. SignificanceA group can often outperform an individual in complex problem solving, even when the group lacks a sophisticated central planner. We develop a simple theory to explain how collective intelligence emerges. The group tries to predict an outcome …

Dual-targeted ping-pong CAR T cells: Leveraging peripheral expansion to improve solid tumor immunotherapy

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. SignificanceChimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies have revolutionized treatment for B cell malignancies, where robust expansion of CAR T cells in the blood correlates with clinical success. However, in solid tumors, CAR T cells fail to expand …

Interstep compatibility of a model for the prebiotic synthesis of RNA consistent with Hadean natural history

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. SignificanceRNA may have been the first informational molecule to support Darwinian evolution, and life, on Hadean Earth and/or Noachian Mars. Thus, any model that produces RNA from simple organic molecules is relevant to understanding how life emerged …

Reviving Vavilov’s vision: The tragedy of biodiversity governance and principles for reform

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. This perspective addresses two of humanity’s greatest challenges: feeding a growing population and conserving biodiversity. We begin by examining the legacy of Nikolai Vavilov, who pioneered the improvement of crops such as wheat and beans by hybridizing …

Warming substantially amplifies Antarctic coastal polynyas as key carbon sinks

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. SignificanceAntarctic coastal polynyas, small open-water areas within sea ice, are revealed in this study to be unexpectedly powerful carbon sinks. Despite covering just ~3% of the Southern Ocean, they bury 42% of its organic carbon, making them the …

Biomechanics of the mandibular middle ear of the cynodont Thrinaxodon and the evolution of mammal hearing

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. SignificanceThe middle ear of modern mammals is detached from the mandible and has a soft-tissue eardrum, which allows airborne sound to be heard across a wide range of frequencies. A rich fossil record shows that the middle ear bones of mammals evolved …

David John “Davo” Mangelsdorf (1958–2025): A life of science, friendship, and joy

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 51, December 2025. David John “Davo” Mangelsdorf passed away on August 3, 2025, in Dallas, Texas at age 67 from an unexpected postsurgical complication. Davo made transformative contributions to nuclear receptor and metabolic biology. He discovered the retinoid X receptor (…

Ethylene and oxygen found to drive periderm regeneration after plant injury

Plants have an extraordinary ability to sense tissue damage and quickly rebuild their protective outer layers, a process vital for survival amid environmental stresses. The periderm—a specialized protective tissue found in many woody plants—serves as a crucial barrier against water loss, pathogens, and mechanical injury. However, understanding how gaseous molecules enable plants to rapidly detect surface disruptions has long remained elusive.

AI-driven breeding strategy aims to boost orphan crops for food security

With global population growth and climate change posing escalating threats to crop production, the current food system is unlikely to be sufficient to meet future demand. Although more than 12,000 plant species are edible, global agriculture remains reliant on a narrow set of crops, with roughly 30 species supplying 95% of the world's calories. This reliance has resulted in a highly homogenized and increasingly vulnerable food system.

Hunting for dark matter axions with a quantum-powered haloscope

Axions are hypothetical light particles that could solve two different physics problems, as they could explain why some nuclear interactions don't violate time symmetry and are also promising dark matter candidates. Dark matter is a type of matter that does not emit, reflect or absorb light, and has never been directly observed before.