Reviews & Analysis

Bioelectronic devices enable real-time monitoring, diagnosis and treatment by blending biological processes with electronic technology. This Review examines the material property landscape of low-dimensional materials in bioelectronic systems by device component, emphasizing their role in enabling the development of miniaturized bioelectronic platforms for wireless and connected health-care applications.

Living organisms surpass robots in durability and adaptability. This Review explores animal and plant energy-saving strategies to inspire resilient, low-energy robots and emphasizes the cost of transport as a key metric in relation to the durability of various movement modalities.

Microbial synthetic biology might greatly benefit from the application of non-model organisms, which have been evolutionarily optimized for the production of specific proteins and metabolites. This Review discusses the design and application of endogenous production in non-model organisms.

Soft robotic systems can be integrated into wearable technologies, offering adaptable and safe solutions for assistance, rehabilitation and haptic feedback. This Review explores key soft actuator technologies, integration strategies and the role of sustainability in enabling personalized, energy-efficient and durable wearable soft robotic devices.

Metastasis remains difficult to treat owing to the heterogeneity of metastatic cancer cells and the various dynamic steps of the metastatic cascade. This Review discusses the design of nanomedicines for the specific treatment of metastasis.

Artificial intelligence (AI) models are being applied more often across a range of biomedical domains to support clinical decision-making and therapeutic strategies. This Review examines the transparency of medical AI systems, highlighting key approaches to increasing transparency in model design, operation and outcomes.

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing protein design by enabling precise navigation of sequence space and accelerating the creation of functional proteins. In this Review, a practical roadmap guides integration of artificial intelligence tools into design workflows, highlighting structural prediction, generative models and case studies spanning engineering therapeutic proteins to designing new ones.

CRISPR genome-editing tools, including Cas nucleases, base editors and prime editors, have revolutionized genome manipulation with a vast array of designable guide RNAs and combinations. In this Review, we discuss high-throughput evaluations and machine learning-based predictions of editing efficiencies and off-target effects, alongside recent advances in genome-editing tools and artificial intelligence-driven development.

High-throughput sequencing and artificial intelligence-driven structural biology have vastly expanded our understanding of the human metagenome, yet microbial functions remain largely elusive. In this Review, metagenomics analysis is explored across taxonomic, genetic, structural and spatial–temporal dimensions, highlighting emerging tools and opportunities to decode microbial roles in health and disease.

Contamination of heavy metals and metalloids of agricultural soils poses a risk to human health; however, managing or removing these contaminates is challenging, owing to their large spatial distribution. This Review explores strategies that integrate traditional bioremediation with crop bioengineering and nanotechnology for the management of heavy metal(loid)-contaminated agricultural soils.

Organic afterglow luminescence imaging detects photons that are being slowly released from chemical defects after the light source is turned off, enabling autofluorescence-free in vivo imaging with a high signal-to-background ratio. This Review discusses the mechanisms underlying organic afterglow luminescence, outlining organic afterglow probe design and optimization and highlighting key biomedical applications.

The stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway can be targeted to promote antitumour immunity. This Review discusses the clinical translation of STING agonists and explores the use of biomaterials to investigate STING pathways, enhance STING agonist delivery and facilitate development of cancer immunotherapies.

Compared with traditional fluorophores, aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) offer enhanced fluorescence in aggregated states, large Stokes shifts and excellent photostability. This Review discusses the biomedical applications of AIEgens, such as cell imaging, in vivo bioimaging, phototheranostics and in vitro diagnosis of human clinical samples, as well as their route to in vivo clinical translation.

Structural anisotropy is crucial for the function of various human tissues such as myocardial and locomotion muscles and cornea. In this Review, the authors summarize the development of structural anisotropy in native tissues and discuss in vitro reductionist approaches to understand and direct anisotropy for tissue regeneration applications.

Despite microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) being identified in different organisms and humans, current detection and characterization techniques are mainly tailored for environmental samples. In this Review, the authors highlight strategies to improve workflows of digestion, separation, enrichment, detection and analysis of MNPs in biological samples, and discuss the presence of MNPs in the human body.

Genomic research has been transformed by genome databases, epigenetic discoveries and precise editing, yet linking genetic and epigenetic changes to cellular phenotypes remains challenging. In this Review, we explore the principles, components and applications of image-activated cell sorting (IACS) and discuss how it can address these limitations by enabling high-rate, real-time image-based sorting.

This Review discusses wearable ultrasound technology, covering device design, integration, clinical applications and translational potential. It highlights key barriers to wide deployment and explores future development directions from scientific, engineering and clinical perspectives.

The features of smart devices such as smartphones and smart watches, including speakers, microphones and other sensors, can be leveraged for the design of mobile medical systems. This Review discusses acoustic-based, vision-based and sensor fusion systems that rely on smart device hardware and software for remote health and disease assessment.

Synthesis-planning algorithms equipped with accurate knowledge of reaction rules can nowadays rival designs of expert organic chemists. This Review discusses how computer-assisted synthesis is used to help design routes that are not only chemically correct but also green, sustainable or circular.

The administration of therapeutics for chronic disease management faces challenges like precise dosage control and timely delivery. This Review explores how smart closed-loop systems can address these issues by integrating real-time biosensing with automated drug delivery, highlighting advancements in wearable and implantable technologies, artificial intelligence-enhanced control algorithms and the integration of synthetic biology for personalized, adaptive therapies.