Reviews & Analysis

Laser light emitted by fluorescently stained human tissue inside a laser cavity can be used to diagnose cancer.

Microchips embedding a magnetic sensor and a radiofrequency transmitter can be localized in the body of a mouse at submillimetre resolution when under a magnetic field.

Causing nanoscale vibrations in bone-marrow stromal cells embedded in a soft collagen gel induces the cells to undergo osteogenic differentiation and mineralization via mechanosensitive signalling pathways.

This Review discusses imaging approaches that benefit from the combination of signals and modalities to enhance patient diagnosis and the monitoring of therapy.

High-frequency transcranial electric-field oscillations stimulate neural circuits in the deep brain.

Uniform iron oxide nanoparticles with a hydrodynamic diameter of about 12 nm offer high biocompatibility and diagnostic yield as contrast agents for the magnetic resonance imaging of large animals.

A new microsensor can simultaneously track drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and the resulting electrophysiological activity in live animals.

The ability to release an anaesthetic from liposomes by applying ultrasound opens up the possibility of managing localized pain on-demand.

Depletion of tumour-associated platelets improves the delivery of anticancer drugs.

Exosomes expressing CD47 and loaded with interfering RNA dodge phagocytosis and accumulate in pancreatic tumours to silence the expression of the oncogene Kras in mice, with remarkable therapeutic efficacy.

Genetically modified bacteria provide a long-lasting record of intestinal inflammation in mice.

Microscale arrays of protein–polysaccharide clusters enable the functional characterization of human-neutrophil migration.

Cellular biophysical features are identified as predictive biomarkers of ageing.

Long single-stranded DNA probes enable the capture and multiplexed cloning of DNA at the megabase scale.

A light-sheet microscope offers fast three-dimensional imaging of intact clinical tissue samples over large fields of view.

T-cell-binding nanoparticles bypass the complexities of in vitro gene transfer to deliver genes to T cells within the host.

An optimized drug-eluting polymer for the surface of articulating artificial joints may make them infection-free.

A CRISPR-associated nuclease that can promiscuously cleave RNAs enables a rapid and cheap test for the single-molecule detection and single-base discrimination of nucleic acids.

Implanted scaffolds bearing 3D-printed parallel endothelialized channels restore blood perfusion in ischaemic hind limbs and infarcted hearts in rodents.

The recruitment of neutrophils is indispensable for the formation of functional blood vessels in bioengineered grafts.