In this Review, Weaver and colleagues discuss the transmission cycles of arthritogenic alphaviruses, their vectors, epidemiology, transmission dynamics, evolution, pathophysiology and immune responses. They also outline strategies and countermeasures to anticipate and mitigate the impact of arthritogenic alphaviruses on human health.

Each human hosts a unique microbiome, but only recently have we started to uncover how such uniqueness can arise. In this Review, Heidrich, Valles-Colomer and Segata highlight studies that surveyed how we acquire and transmit our microbiome strains through interactions with other humans and the environment.

In this Review, Gagneux and colleagues discuss ecological and evolutionary concepts related to the biology and epidemiology of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, including new phylogenetic lineages, host tropism among the various animal-adapted lineages, the evolutionary dynamics of antimicrobial resistance and transmission, as well as within-host diversity and structural genomic variation.

This study presents the microbiome inhabiting the wood of living trees.

This Genome Watch article highlights recent discoveries on bacterial symbionts of predatory protists, and their evolutionary and functional integration into host biology.

As anti-science sentiment intensifies — aggravated by the pandemic, driven in some parts of the world by political actors and amplified by social media — the scientific community finds itself under increasing scrutiny, and in some cases, even direct attack. In this World View, Marion Koopmans reflects on this anti-science trend from a perspective of a concerned scientist looking for solutions, arguing that we cannot stand by.

New research by Cho et al. shows that structural variations in a glycolipid present on Gram-negative bacteria can modulate gut inflammatory responses.

This study shows that the prototypical crAssphage Carjivirus communis replicates as a low-copy, linear phage–plasmid that has a broad host range.

This study reports the development of optogenetically engineered microorganisms and optoelectronic capsules that form a bidirectional signal processing system that can be controlled via a wireless smartphone.