Perspectives

Drug-tolerant persister (DTP) cells are a rare subpopulation of cancer cells that can survive chemotherapy through reversible non-genetic mechanisms. Here, the authors provide their perspective on the existing gaps and outline the research paths still required to bridge basic DTP research with effective clinical strategies.

Edge AI enables intelligent perception in sensory devices, yet at excessive energy costs. This Perspective outlines a neuro-inspired vision for efficient edge perception, sketching the design space of data-driven and stateful dynamic sparsity to selectively activate sensors, memory, and compute.

Synthetic riboswitches are a burgeoning regulatory tool in the field of molecular biology. Here, the authors explore the unique features of synthetic riboswitches, highlight key applications, assess current bottlenecks and limitations and put them in context with emerging solutions.

Small-angle scattering is widely applied to nanoscale material systems enabling in-situ measurements, statistically significant analysis and the study of stimuli dependent dynamic changes. Here, the authors show how small-angle scattering techniques can be applied to the characterization of supramolecular polymers and complement other routinely used techniques.

In this perspective, the authors propose integrating urban nature and its biodiversity into the 15-minute city concept to meet both human needs and biodiversity conservation goals.

Bio-hybrid photoelectrochemical systems integrate microbial components with abiotic conductors/semiconductors for solar fuels and chemical conversion. Here, the authors analyze the bottlenecks related to catalytic efficiency, stability and scalability, and propose strategies to address these challenges.

Meningeal immunity represents an emerging focus in neuroimmune interactions with implications for vaccine development. Here, the authors review how insights from meningeal immunity are being integrated into vaccine innovation, with implications for treating CNS tumors, infectious diseases, and age-related neuroinflammation.

Synthetic one-carbon assimilation could contribute to a more sustainable and circular carbon economy, but much work in this field has focused on model microorganisms. Here the authors provide their perspective on the potential value of non-model microbes, and how that potential could be realised.

Aging is a complex process resulting in a decline in organ function. Here the authors proposes that chronic activation of tissue damage response mechanisms drives aging, with aged organs displaying features similar to those seen after acute injury. This provides a unifying framework for understanding the aging process and suggests new directions for treating age-related diseases.

This study develops a biophysical theory explaining root anatomical allometry as a regulator for carbon-nutrient exchange with mycorrhizal fungi. Accordingly, arbuscules residing inner cortical layers can improve carbon efficiency in nutrient uptake.

Cancer cell plasticity is often linked to treatment failure. Here, the authors discuss the role of epigenome in DNA repair and, how DNA repair-induced chromatin changes influence cancer cell plasticity.

The impact of mercury (Hg) mitigation on microbe-mediated greenhouse gas (GHG) dynamics remains elusive. In this Perspective, the authors fill this gap by synthesizing fragmented evidence on the Hg-microbe-GHG nexus, proposing a roadmap to align Hg mitigation with climate action.

AI scientists powered by large language models and AI agents present both opportunities and risks in automatic scientific discovery. Here, the authors examine the vulnerabilities of AI scientists, propose a risk taxonomy based on user intent and impact domains, and develop a triadic safeguarding framework emphasizing human regulation, agent alignment, and environmental feedback understanding.

Quantum sensing of lithium and post-lithium batteries is introduced to visualize how electrons and ions flow and react during operation. Here, authors show how this facilitates operando imaging of heterogeneous redox reactions, buried current distributions, and dendrite formation.

Industrial decarbonization poses both risks and benefits for communities. We show how community-based research can move pervasive yet nebulous calls for community engagement to processes that emphasize just and equitable governance.

The photovoltaic performance of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cells has so far been hindered by open-circuit voltage losses. Here, the authors quantify such losses reported in the literature and point out the need to reduce non-radiative recombination for a breakthrough in power conversion efficiency.

Graphs are widely adopted in optimization, physical modeling, and network analysis. In this Perspective, the authors discuss various physical systems for graph representation and computation, highlighting each system’s strengths, technical challenges, and future developments.

There has been growing evidence that strategies to circumvent the barren plateau problem in variational quantum computing might also kill potential quantum advantages. In this Perspective, the authors gather this evidence, discuss what is still missing to provide a definitive answer, and provide new research directions.

This Perspective outlines how brain-age prediction models are increasingly applied to child and adolescent populations and examines the specific challenges this entails. It offers practical recommendations and future directions for future research in the field.

This perspective explores the potential continuum and diversification of microbes along the soil-plant-human gut microbiome axis, highlighting microorganisms capable of moving along the axis and proposing a conceptual framework for mechanisms underlying microbial interactions.