Cutting-edge genomic research continues to illuminate mechanisms underlying human health and disease. Work on human-accelerated regions (HARs) demonstrates their influence on neural development and cognitive flexibility. Multi-omics analyses reveal immunotherapy markers in renal cell carcinoma, while synthetic metagenomics unveils antimicrobial resistance factors in dihydrofolate reductase proteins. A gene score predicting obesity risk has been developed, useful even in young children. New discoveries also cover microbial molecules restoring liver and gut health, and long noncoding RNAs like EPIC1 implicated in cancer immunotherapy resistance, highlighting new therapeutic targets across diverse pathologies.