Understanding how genetic variants influence disease risk through molecular mechanisms remains a central challenge in complex disease genetics. Nonsyndromic orofacial clefts (OFCs) exemplify this challenge, with most risk loci residing in non-coding regions. We hypothesized that common genetic variants influence OFC risk by modulating DNA methylation at regulatory elements through methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTLs)....

Global spread of animal pathogens has contributed to species declines and extinctions. In regions where a particular disease is enzootic, pathogen inhibition may arise through protection provided by host‐associated microbiomes. Amphibians skin microbiomes can inhibit growth of the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), preventing emergence of disease through a range of microbe‐mediated antifungal mechanisms, allo...

The Asia region harbors exceptional chondrichthyan (shark, ray, and chimaera) diversity but faces intense fishing pressure. The Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) process provides a collaborative, evidence-based framework to identify critical habitats and inform spatial management. We assessed ISRAs across the Bay of Bengal, Southeast Asia, and the Northwest Pacific to characterize their extent, ecological significance, and...

Sedimentary rock-hosted copper-cobalt deposits of the Central African Copperbelt (CACB) supply over 70% of global cobalt production. Cobalt source rocks proposed in the literature include Katangan red beds and mafic igneous rocks, and mafic-ultramafic rocks in the pre-Katangan basement. Given the limited exposure of potential source rocks in cobalt-rich CACB deposits, mass balance modelling is developed to evaluate cobalt sour...

The EUCFe cruise (RV Kilo Moana, 2006) was designed to characterize sources of Fe to the western equatorial Pacific and its transport by the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC), a narrow and fast eastward current flowing along the equator, to the eastern equatorial Pacific High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) region. This study presents seawater dissolved (DFe) and particulate (PFe) iron concentrations and isotopic compositions (δ56...

Expansion of extractive industries to deep‐sea environments will lead to increased stresses on seafloor ecosystems. We examined changes in environmental parameters following direct and indirect experimental benthic disturbance using a modified plough on the Chatham Rise (∼450 m water depth), Aotearoa/New Zealand. Measurements included sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC), nutrient fluxes, macro‐infauna community compos...

Identifying populations at highest risk from climate change is a critical component of conservation efforts. However, vulnerability assessments are usually applied at the species level, even though intraspecific variation in exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity play a crucial role in determining vulnerability. Genomic data can inform intraspecific vulnerability by identifying signatures of local adaptation that reflect...