Editorials

As artificial intelligence enters the scientific arena, it not only compels us to rethink the scientific method but also opens the door to reimagine long-standing practices.

Biomedical engineering innovations are being reimagined to address climate and environmental challenges, from food safety and crop engineering to plastic degradation and soil remediation.

Nature has spent billions of years evolving the most efficient and effective solutions to complex problems, from navigation and energy harvesting to visual processing and biodegradation. Bioinspired engineering draws on these strategies to design adaptive, efficient and sustainable technologies, particularly in fields such as robotics, materials science and medical device engineering.

Although medical devices remain out of reach for many, smartphones are now in the hands of most of the world’s population. Turning these everyday tools into diagnostic devices could thus be a game-changer for global healthcare access, but only if trust is earned and privacy protected.

mRNA–lipid nanoparticles have transformed vaccines and are beginning to have an effect in cancer therapy, yet remain absent in therapies for acute critical illnesses, such as stroke, infarction or other traumatic injuries. Economic disincentives and historical reputation might be behind this gap.

Healthcare technology should not only be functional and safe but also responsive to patient needs. Therefore, patients should be proactively involved from the earliest stages of the design process.

The immune system is plastic, adaptable and context dependent. To effectively leverage its therapeutic potential and understand immune responses to bioengineered interventions, our scientific models and frameworks must reflect this same flexibility.

On the value of human-generated scientific writing in the age of large-language models.

Policies that limit diversity and inclusion undermine evidence-based science by creating gaps in the data, potentially distorting findings and skewing results. When diversity and inclusion are sidelined, scientific progress is hindered.

In our ultimate bioengineering challenge competition, we asked early-career bioengineers to theoretically tackle some of the most pressing global health challenges. They have risen to the occasion with enthusiasm, creativity and innovation.

Biomedical imaging continues to advance, providing ever more refined methods to diagnose and monitor diseases. Photoacoustic imaging, a hybrid modality that combines optical and acoustic technologies, stands out for its ability to deliver high-resolution images at a greater depth than optical microscopy. However, as with any imaging technology, its success will hinge on identifying specific clinical applications for which it offers clear advantages over established methods.

Biofabrication technologies have advanced from proof-of-concept demonstrations to sophisticated and scalable methods. This month’s Focus issue explores this progress and highlights how biofabrication is revolutionizing our ability to create complex biological structures with unprecedented precision and control.

Engineering is about transforming innovative solutions from the lab into real-world impact. In our Down to Business articles, we highlight inspiring stories of spin-off companies that have navigated the challenges of translation. These stories, shared by the inventors themselves, reveal the triumphs and hurdles of bringing ideas to life.

Biased and unrepresentative scientific data can lead to misleading conclusions and potentially harm patients. Artificial intelligence (AI) might be able to help make data more representative, but only if a standardized approach to assessing the quality of AI-generated data is established.

Review articles are our bread and butter. Here, we would like to offer some insights on how to craft a comprehensive and authoritative assessment of a field.

Women’s health research has long been underfunded, in part owing to stigmas associated with conditions that primarily affect women. Equitable health research funding requires transparency from funding agencies, investment in women-centred innovations, support for women in science and a cultural shift in how health issues are viewed.

Research on human brain organoids is progressing at speed. Therefore, an ethical and legal framework needs to be put in place to ensure their responsible use, while not constraining innovation.

Brain–machine interfaces (BMIs) have the potential to restore functions in people with neurological disorders, but they face challenges in development, ethics and implementation. As the field progresses and approaches clinical translation, addressing issues of hype, patient access, user-centred design and long-term support will be essential to ensure responsible innovation and adoption of BMIs.

Bioengineering breakthroughs often arise from deceptively simple solutions, leveraging scalability, modularity and ease-of-use. However, certain biomedical applications require the integration of custom-engineered, patient-specific complexity. Striking this simplicity–complexity balance will drive affordable, globalized health innovations.

Global health-related research and development continues to uphold colonialist structures, concentrating knowledge generation and innovation to high-income countries, thereby hindering global health equity. Therefore, in addition to engineering new technologies, bioengineers will need to try to engineer equitable relationships.