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In the pursuit of exciting scientific discoveries, researchers often learn to maintain a work–life balance and build an expansive scientific network, as well as publish and build their repertoire as a senior author. In this instalment of our Career Pathways series, Xiaofei Yu and Michael Lukey share their experiences in juggling these diverse aspects of scientific research and academia.

Cellulose triacetate-based reverse osmosis membranes are promising for water purification; overcoming the permeability-selectivity trade-off is challenging. Here, the authors incorporate carbon dots into the membrane to optimize performance.

Zhang et al. report a strategy of using short chain ligands to simultaneously manipulate the charge transfer dynamics and stabilize the lead bromide octahedra of quasi-2D pure-bromide perovskites, enabling pure-blue LEDs with efficiency of 16.3% and extending the operational lifetime up to 393 mins.

Nitrate sensing by NLP7 engages a MEKK–MAPK cascade to phosphorylate the circadian clock protein CCA1, establishing a positive-feedback loop that stimulates auxin signalling to drive root foraging for nitrate.

Nitrogen deposition can increase plant biomass and reduce plant diversity, but herbivores are predicted to offset these effects by increasing consumption. Here, the authors demonstrate that added nitrogen can disrupt top-down control by herbivores, reducing herbivore abundance and increasing plant biomass and community dominance.

As predominant separation medium, mesoporous microspheres demand precision architecture to transform separation performance. The authors report a method for precision synthesis and nm-μm cross-dimensional ordered assembly of porous material, and achieve resolution of critical molecular pairs.

GALRs, receptors for the neuropeptide galanin, have emerged as potential therapeutic targets for inflammatory bowel disease. Here the authors report that GAL53, a long galanin peptide derived from non-mammalian vertebrates, alleviates induced colitis in preclinical models by engaging GALR2 and activating the β-arrestin2-biased signalling pathway.

Elebsiran plus PEG-IFNα improved hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss rates compared with PEG-IFNα alone in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Furthermore, prior response to the BRII-179 vaccine was associated with higher HBsAg clearance, suggesting its potential as a predictive tool for identifying patients more likely to benefit from therapies.

Integrating geodetic and seismic data with kinematic and dynamic modeling suggests that the 2025 Mw 7.7 Myanmar rupture transitioned between subshear and supershear speeds in both directions and was strongly influenced by thick sediments.

Root-knot nematodes locate host plants by sensing microbial volatiles shaped by plant defence metabolites, revealing a surprising ecological link between plant chemistry, soil microbes and parasite behaviour in the rhizosphere.

Ethylene is involved in the regulation of multiple plant growth and developmental processes. Here, the authors use a combination of genetic, molecular, and biochemical approaches to demonstrate that ethylene signaling plays a critical role in promoting branch formation while inhibiting tendril development in cucumber.

An in situ multistep edge-contact process is developed for MoS₂ transistors, achieving quasi-non-volatile capacitorless two-transistor dynamic random-access memory with 5-bit accuracy and nanosecond write speeds.

Zhu et al. find that aging causes region-specific myelin damage in the spinal cord, which is counteracted by enhanced TGFβ signaling in microglia, revealing a protective mechanism for healthy aging.

High-entropy alloy (HEA) nanoparticles, self-supporting HEA aerogels and HEA coatings with up to 11 metal elements and uniform elemental distributions have been synthesized at subzero temperatures using a bilayer ice recrystallization method. The process is observed by cryo-transmission electron microscopy and fused multimodal electron tomography.

In this study, the authors present that deep brain stimulation of lateral hypothalamic area activates a hypothalamic-pontine-spinal pathway, promoting locomotor initiation and functional recovery after spinal cord injury in mice.

Uterine perivascular cells were identified as progenitors for endometrial re-epithelialization via mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition, whereby cellular quiescence and activation were mediated via Notch signaling and estrogen, respectively.

Nature’s redox enzymes inspire the design of catalysts with precise spatial control. Here, the authors report stable metal-free bicarbenium catalysts that form biradicals for highly selective oxygen and nitric oxide reduction, revealing a blueprint for open-shell electrocatalysis.

Targeted DNA methylation editing is critical for establishing the causal relationship between DNA methylation and its function as well as for epigenetic crop breeding. Here, the authors develop a CRISPR/dCas9-based fusion protein strategy for DNA methylation and demethylation editing in Arabidopsis.

There is a growing demand for wearable electronics for sensing, but it is challenging to integrate in-situ logic computing methods. Here the authors report multi-layered printed fibers to integrate logic circuits for wearable sensors.

Previous studies showed inhibition of glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase M2 disrupts podocyte function. The study shows that PGK1-serine axis regulates and drives aging and damage of podocytes.

Antimicrobial resistance poses a significant global health threat, necessitating swift and precise diagnostic solutions. Here, the authors introduce a culture-free diagnostic platform integrating microfluidic cell enrichment, single-cell Raman spectroscopy, and deep learning, that identifies bacterial and fungal infections directly from clinical samples within 20 minutes.

Cao et al. provide a comprehensive immune landscape of sepsis, delineating anatomical-specific and age-dependent programs.

A circular economy approach applied to the global lithium-ion battery supply chain shows that combining cross-regional cooperation on technology and trade with regionally tailored domestic circular economy policies yields the highest global emission reduction.

A single umbilical cord blood unit of CD34⁺ HSPCs produces a high number of CD19 CAR-iNK cells using a modified cell culture method.

Simultaneously capturing polarization and frequency is challenging. This work develops a metasurface-based intelligent photodetector, which can detect arbitrary polarization and frequency within 0.3-1.1 THz with a total error smaller than 5.1%.

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has been approved as ablation therapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Here, the authors show that, in mouse models, IRE reverses the immunosuppressive microenvironment of PDAC resulting in increased and durable response when combined with PD1 checkpoint inhibition therapy.

Discovering suitable electrodes is a challenge for the development of sodium-ion batteries. Here the authors demonstrate a high-performance symmetric battery based on Na₂VTi(PO₄)₃, highlighting its potential application in a smart grid.

The authors use historical hailstorm records in China dating back to 2980 years ago and show an increase in hailstorm days after 1850 attributed to global warming and internal climate variability. Future projections indicate further increases under sustained warming.

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are a global health problem. In this work, the authors report an antimicrobial polymer that crosses the bacterial membrane and phase separates with intracellular nucleic acids, demonstrating efficacy against MDR bacteria in various murine models.

Decommissioned power semiconductor devices often still have useful life, creating opportunities to reuse rather than discard them. This Perspective outlines how careful screening and creative upcycling, including artificial intelligence-assisted assessment and circuit reconstruction, can extend device lifetimes while reducing waste and supporting a circular and lower carbon power electronics industry.

Designing effective dielectrics in a broad range of the spectrum is of huge interest. Here, the authors demonstrate how transparent effective dielectrics can be constructed from dense arrays of metallic nanoparticles and can result in being more transparent than real dielectrics renowned for their transparency.

The authors present a frequency-adjustable ferroelectric heterojunction based on K_0.5Na_0.5NbO₃ piezoelectric ceramic, which enabling therapeutic effects in a myocardial infarction animal model by long-term and high-precision transcranial neuromodulation.

An icing forecast hydrogel device encapsulating ice-nucleating proteins colorimetrically predicts ice formation with high accuracy. The device successfully activated a wind turbine deicing system 70 min before ice accumulation.

The authors use spatial and single-cell transcriptomics to examine spatial dynamics during early human cardiogenesis, yielding insights into the development of the cardiac pacemaker-conduction system, autonomic innervation, heart valves and atrial septum, and heterogeneity of cardiac mesenchymal cells.

The role of vascular plasticity in brain function remains poorly understood. Here, the authors demonstrate that a significant portion of blood vessels in the adult brain periodically occlude and regress, a process that is associated with a reduction in neuronal activity.

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data from 3,023 human genomes from mainland Southeast Asia identifies high genetic heterogeneity among populations in the region and many unique small and structural variants.

Convective flow can enhance solar evaporation performance but requires external components and power input. Here, authors develop a Dyson sphere-like evaporator capable of self-generating internal convection to significantly improve evaporation rates. Energy allocation for direct water evaporation and vapor removal is investigated.

Xie et al. report a transparent near-infrared light-emitting diode based on semiconducting lead halide perovskite. This technology could enable security and sensing features on space constrained smart-watches, phones, gaming consoles and augmented or virtual reality headsets.

Alpha-fetoprotein is a known biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma. Here, the authors analyse differences between AFP positive and negative patients to identify alterations in androgen receptor signalling.

DeepSeMi is a self-supervised denoising framework that can enhance SNR over 12 dB across diverse samples and imaging modalities. DeepSeMi enables extended longitudinal imaging of subcellular dynamics with high spatiotemporal resolution.

The authors grow 2D ferroelectric wurtzite type α-In2Se3 films directly on silicon chips. The material maintains ferroelectricity up to 620 °C with tunable bandgaps down to 0.8 eV. It powers photon stimulated synaptic devices for brain-like computing.

RuGN single atom catalyst with Ru-O₄ structure can effectively mitigate the self-decay of Fe(VI), eliminate the H₂O₂ byproduct, and activate Fe(VI) through Ru-O-Fe coordination, resulting in excellent degradation performance of the RuGN/Fe(VI) system towards micropollutants in water.

This study uncovers key challenges in allele-aware genome scaffolding with Hi-C data. A reference-independent Hi-C scaffolder showing superior performance was developed to construct the haplotype-resolved genome of triploid Miscanthus × giganteus.

There has been much interest in the assembly and properties of metal–organic frameworks. Here, a new type is described in which an infinite three-dimensional polycatenane is assembled from a discrete octahedral nanocage through the interlocking of all its six vertices.

In the pre-synapse, vesicle fusion is a key process for neurotransmitter release in the nervous system. Here authors demonstrate under pathological condition, synaptotagmin1 with Zn²⁺ adopts an alternative mode to regulate spontaneous neurotransmitter release.

Structural analysis of a type III effector protein CteC reveals that it represents a unique ‘D-E’ family of PARP-like ADP-ribosyltransferases, which harbors chimeric features from the enzymes of the R-S-E and H-Y-E classes.