Review Articles

Natural products are an important source of bioactive compounds and have versatile applications in different fields, but their discovery is challenging. Here, the authors review the recent developments in genome mining for discovery of natural products, focusing on compounds from unconventional microorganisms and microbiomes.

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing global problem and low dimensional materials have emerged as a potential solution. Here, the authors review the progress which has been made on low dimensional antimicrobials looking at the materials synthesis, modes of action and currently applications.

This review presents an overview of scenarios where van der Waals (vdW) materials provide unique advantages for nanophotonic biosensing applications. The authors discuss basic sensing principles based on vdW materials, advantages of the reduced dimensionality as well as technological challenges.

Whether or not a city achieves absolute sustainability is difficult to assess with existing frameworks. Here the authors, in a review, show that a further integration of consumption-based accounting and benchmarking is necessary to aid the monitoring and assessment of Sustainable Development Goals in cities.

Electrocatalytic nanocarbon (EN) is a class of materials receiving intense interest as next generation electrocatalysts. Although impressive platforms, work is still required to develop our mechanistic understanding of them to that of molecular electrocatalysts.

Improving catalyst performance for ring-opening (co)polymerisation (RO(CO)P) reactions by using heterometallic cooperativity is a promising yet underexplored strategy. Here the authors review advances in heterometallic RO(CO)P catalyst design, highlighting the overarching structure-activity trends and reactivity patterns to inform future catalyst design.

Water scarcity is a rapidly spreading global challenge but water purification technologies are often not sustainable. Here, the authors review the research on water purification technologies based on protein nanofibrils as a green and affordable solution to alleviate a water crisis.

Given the early failing of therapeutic nanomedicine in the clinic the importance of understanding bio-nano interactions and biosystem parameters has gained much attention. Here, the authors review the work to date that looks at the impact of sex on the applications and outcomes of nanomedicine.

Circadian clocks link physiologic processes to environmental conditions and a mismatch between internal and external rhythms has negative effects on organismal health. In this review, the authors discuss the interactions between circadian clocks and dietary interventions targeted to promote healthy aging.

At the centre of intestinal health and the fight against obesity and metabolic syndrome is the intestinal microbiota and its interaction with our immune systems. Here the authors Review the current understanding of how these systems interact and how we can capitalize on recent advances to provide better therapeutic options.

DNA has the potential to store vast amounts of data but it is subject to physical decay. In this Perspective, the authors propose that the stability of DNA should be a key consideration in how it is used for data storage.

This review dives deep into how earthquakes affect volcanoes, specifically into the relation between tectonic seismic activity and subsequent eruptions. Activity may increase in any volcanic setting in the 2–5 years following an earthquake, and especially at volcanic centres featuring vigorous hydrothermal activity.

Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The kidneys, which have a very high metabolic rate, play a fundamental role in blood pressure regulation. In this review, the authors discuss recent studies on the role of renal metabolism in the development of hypertension.

The gastrointestinal tract participates in maintaining metabolic homeostasis in part through nutrient-sensing and subsequent gut-brain signalling. Here the authors review the role of small intestinal nutrient-sensing in regulation of energy intake and systemic glucose metabolism, and link high-fat diet, obesity and diabetes with perturbations in these pathways.

Skeletal muscle has a remarkable regenerative capacity, which can largely be attributed to resident muscle stem cells (MuSCs). Here, the authors review the molecular mechanisms regulating MuSC quiescence, activation and proliferation, how these processes are regulated by the stem cell niche, and the role of MuSCs in neuromuscular diseases.

The large anomalous Hall (AHE) and anomalous Nernst effects (ANE) in antiferromagnets Mn₃Sn/Mn₃Ge are considered fingerprints of Weyl nodes residing near the Fermi energy. Here, the authors review the results from previous studies combining with new transport measurements on Mn₃Sn/Mn₃Ge single crystals, suggesting the essential role of magnetic Weyl fermions in explaining the AHE and ANE.

One of the key limitations of CRISPR-Cas-based genome editing techniques is the PAM dependency. Here, the authors review ongoing efforts towards realizing PAM-free nucleases, address potential consequences of eliminating PAM recognition, and propose an alternative nuclease repertoire covering all possible PAM sequences.

Loss of muscle mass is associated with ageing and with a number of diseases such as cancer. Here, the authors review the signaling pathways that modulate protein synthesis and degradation and gain or loss of muscle mass, and discuss therapeutic implications and future directions for the field.

Advances made in synthesis and analytical techniques has allowed the exploration and mimicry of natural materials. Resilin-mimetics have emerged from this advance as a biomaterial with a range of potential applications. Here, the authors review the history and current research on resilin-mimetics, providing a future perspective.

Large-scale meat production can have negative impacts on public health, the environment and animal welfare. In this Review, the authors consider plant-based and cell-based approaches to meat production and the challenges they face.