Perspectives

The proliferation of artificial intelligence tools in scientific research risks creating illusions of understanding, where scientists believe they understand more about the world than they actually do.

To reduce voltage drops—the depreciation of the cost–benefit profile when scaling up solutions to social problems—sufficient policy-based evidence must be generated before policymakers scale up the project.

Four future greenhouse gas emission scenarios for the global plastics system are investigated, with the lead scenario achieving net-zero emissions, and a series of  technical, legal and economic interventions recommended.

A roadmap towards solving the cis-regulatory code using a combination of machine learning and massively parallel assays of exogenous DNA is proposed.

By casting large-language-model-based dialogue-agent behaviour in terms of role play, it is possible to describe dialogue-agent behaviour such as (apparent) deception and (apparent) self-awareness without misleadingly ascribing human characteristics to the models.

This Perspective reviews successful applications of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and presents a case for fMRI as a central hub on which to integrate the dispersed subfields of systems, cognitive, computational and clinical neuroscience.

The mechanisms by which mitochondria are transferred between cells and how intercellular mitochondria transfer regulates physiological processes and disease pathogenesis are discussed.

Technical developments and large collaborative research networks in neurogenomics promise rapid progress in neuroscience, but translation of results from model systems to human brains is limited by sample availability, technical challenges and ethical issues.

Although the catalogue of human protein-coding genes is nearing completion, the number of non-coding RNA genes remains highly uncertain, and for all genes much work remains to be done to understand their functions.

The challenges and opportunities for the design of field-effect transistors are discussed and a vision of future transistors and potential innovation opportunities is provided.

The rationale behind chimaeric antigen receptor T cell therapy is reviewed, and current challenges in oncology, preliminary reports in noncancerous diseases and relevant emerging technologies are discussed.

This Perspective reviews advances in the understanding of the intersection between the DNA damage response and the response to immune checkpoint blockade therapy, and discusses how developments in the field could lead to improved anti-cancer therapies.

This Perspective reviews the utility and interpretation of circulating tumour DNA for the detection of residual and recurrent cancers and provides recommendations regarding its clinical application for a variety of solid tumours.

An analysis of chemical processes to immobilize lead from perovskite solar cells is presented, highlighting the need for a standard lead-leakage test and mathematical model to reliably evaluate the potential environmental risk of perovskite optoelectronics.

This review discusses generalist medical artificial intelligence, identifying potential applications and setting out specific technical capabilities and training datasets necessary to enable them, as well as highlighting challenges to its implementation.

The current observations and understanding of black holes is reviewed, and the future of the field of black-hole astrophysics is discussed.

This Perspective reviews recent developments in the design and use of chimeric antigen receptors in treatments for cancers and other diseases.

This Perspective reviews the evidence for and against the existence of a fetal microbiome and concludes that detected microbial signals are most likely the result of contamination, suggesting that the ‘sterile womb’ hypothesis is correct.

The concept of dendrocentric learning artificial intelligence is proposed to replace synaptocentric learning, reducing the energy use requirement and removing the thermal constraint.

The unquantified, poorly understood and uncertain risks of climate change in economic valuations are identified and classified, and an integrated approach is proposed to include these missing risks in future valuations and decision-making processes.