Volume 3 Issue 8, August 2025

Healthcare innovation greatly benefits from the proactive inclusion of patients. Here we outline the importance of patients as co-creators of healthcare technology, providing insight into patient community engagement and resources for inclusion of the public and patients.

Surface engineering enhances the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of extracellular vesicles (EVs) by improving their stability, immune evasion, tracking and targeting. Advancing scalable chemical approaches that preserve the integrity and functionality of EVs and efficient purification methods are key to unlocking their full potential.

Biomimetic endocrine implants bridge tissue engineering and reproductive medicine to offer adaptive and long-lasting hormone therapies for the treatment of ovarian premature insufficiency and menopause. Their clinical translation requires aligned regulatory, ethical and manufacturing pathways.

The development of chronic implantable brain–computer interface devices requires extensive preclinical testing, for which various animal models can be used. However, bridging the translational gap requires strategic consideration of their brains’ physiological, anatomical and functional organization differences.

An article in Communications Biology reports a new system that integrates robotic assistance, ultrasound navigation and augmented reality to improve the precision and accessibility of percutaneous nephrolithotomy.

CRISPR–Cas tools can be designed to kill or modify specific bacteria. This Review explores the engineering of CRISPR–Cas tools and corresponding delivery strategies for the treatment of bacterial infections and modification of the microbiome.

Bottom-up synthetic biology might greatly benefit from custom-made proteins as components of new biological systems. This Review discusses various protein optimization and design approaches, and explores how these can contribute to the generation of controllable synthetic cells.

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.

Plastic pollution could be partly addressed through the biocatalytic recycling of plastic waste streams. This Review discusses the identification and optimization of polyester-degrading enzymes for the large-scale recycling of plastic waste.

The bone marrow is the primary site for haematopoiesis but can also become the origin of haematological malignancies. This Review discusses the complex mechanical behaviour of the bone marrow niche in health and disease, examining in vitro models to recreate and investigate the physiological and pathological mechanical signatures of the bone marrow.