Heat Engine Drives Transport of an FeII 4 L4 Cage and Cargo.

The directed motion of species against a chemical potential gradient is a fundamental feature of living systems, underpinning processes that range from transport through cell membranes to neurotransmission. The development of artificial active cargo transport could enable new modes of chemical purification and pumping. Here, a heat engine is described that drives chemical cargo between liquid phases to generate a concentration gradient. The heat engine, composed of a functionalized FeII 4 L4 coordination cage, is grafted with oligoethylene glycol imidazolium chains. These chains undergo a conformational change upon heating, causing the cage and its cargo to reversibly transfer between aqueous and organic phases. Furthermore, sectional heating and cooling allow for the cage to traverse multiple phase boundaries, allowing for longer-distance transport than would be possible using a single pair of phases

COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative. A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a major public health threat, especially in countries with low vaccination rates. To better understand the biological underpinnings of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity, we formed the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative1. Here we present a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of up to 125,584 cases and over 2.5 million control individuals across 60 studies from 25 countries, adding 11 genome-wide significant loci compared with those previously identified2. Genes at new loci, including SFTPD, MUC5B and ACE2, reveal compelling insights regarding disease susceptibility and severity.</p