Biological sciences articles within Communications Materials

Featured

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    A key aspect of wearable devices used in personal health monitoring are the electrodes that make contact with the skin. This Review discusses how the materials and structure of electrodes used in these devices are vital to their performance, including how altering these factors might optimize their function.

    • Kyeonghee Lim
    • , Hunkyu Seo
    •  & Jang-Ung Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cyanobacteria convert light and energy into physical movement. Here, the effect of light intensity gradients on the motion of dense bacterial filaments is investigated, revealing self-assembly of 2D and 3D active nematic states, and changes in orientational and velocity order parameters.

    • Andrii Repula
    • , Colin Gates
    •  & Ivan I. Smalyukh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metallic surfaces are often coated with corrosion inhibitors to prevent damage but these are typically toxic to the environment. Here, a recombinant adhesive cement protein from barnacles is shown to effectively protect steel against corrosion under marine environment conditions.

    • My Hanh Bui
    • , Shu Hui Hiew
    •  & Ali Miserez

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmonic nanomaterials, such as nanoparticles, efficiently deliver light to target cells for neuromodulation that is less invasive and has higher spatial resolution than common electrical methods. This review covers recent developments in the use of plasmonics for neuroengineering.

    • N. S. Susan Mousavi
    • , Khalil B. Ramadi
    •  & Sunil Kumar

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    The design and manufacture of materials that replicate the form, function, and sustainability of biological solutions remains difficult. Here, key challenges and promising approaches to materials development informed by biology are identified.

    • Devi Stuart-Fox
    • , Leslie Ng
    •  & Wallace W. H. Wong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Catch bonds exist in some protein-ligand complexes and are of interest for their increased lifetime under greater mechanical force. Here, a mathematical model for nanoparticles tethered with macromolecules shows catch-bond behavior, which may be useful for designing synthetic materials.

    • Kerim C. Dansuk
    • , Subhadeep Pal
    •  & Sinan Keten

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Contact electrification can generate useable charge on a variety of surfaces. Here, surface charge creation when a single water droplet hits various plant leaves is investigated, including the effect of droplet characteristics and whether the plant leaf is hydrophilic or hydrophobic.

    • Serena Armiento
    • , Carlo Filippeschi
    •  & Barbara Mazzolai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Enzymes are effective at chemically converting low-value biomass to technological materials. Here, an ancestral lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase enzyme is used to synthesize chitin nanocrystals, which are used as a matrix for cell growth and to create conducting graphene oxide bioinks.

    • Leire Barandiaran
    • , Borja Alonso-Lerma
    •  & Raul Perez-Jimenez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Characterizing fission products in uranium dioxide nuclear fuel is important for predicting its long-term properties. Here, machine learning is used to mine microscopy images of precipitates and nanoscale gas bubbles in high-burn-up fuels, providing detailed structural insight of nanoscale fission products.

    • Keyou S. Mao
    • , Tyler J. Gerczak
    •  & Philip D. Edmondson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proteins can be patterned in photoresponsive hydrogels by the application of light. Here, a two-photon lithography-based approach allows for the 3D patterning of proteins with micrometer precision, demonstrated for a photoinstructive hydrogel and relevant to a range of proteins.

    • Heike Krüger
    • , Marvin Asido
    •  & Ralph Wieneke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Virus-like particles are promising for drug delivery systems and vaccine development, but controlling their size and morphology is challenging. Here, amino acid sequences are inserted into MS2 bacteriophage virus-like particles, with their size and shape being controlled by varying the insert used.

    • Artur P. Biela
    • , Antonina Naskalska
    •  & Jonathan G. Heddle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antibodies are widely used in biotechnology and bioengineering, but are sensitive to their environment. Here, primary antibodies are converted into thermally-stable protein liquids, achieving >60% antigen binding after cyclic heating at 125 °C and remain active when incorporated into plastics.

    • Joseph M. Slocik
    • , Patrick B. Dennis
    •  & Rajesh R. Naik

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    There is growing interest in organic semiconductor devices for light-mediated neuromodulation, such as for retinal stimulation. Here, the key working principles of these devices are discussed, as well as promising applications and outstanding challenges for the field.

    • Danashi Imani Medagoda
    •  & Diego Ghezzi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Miniaturized systems for in situ plant applications are important to understand and preserve natural ecosystems. Here, the attachment of bioinspired microhooks to the surfaces of plant leaves is investigated, and on-leaf soft machines fabricated for monitoring conditions and for molecular delivery.

    • Isabella Fiorello
    • , Fabian Meder
    •  & Barbara Mazzolai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy typically relies on opaque optical waveguides, compatible only with upright microscopes. Here, a versatile approach is reported that uses CMOS-compatible transparent chips, demonstrated for the imaging of synthetic and biological samples, including super-resolution applications.

    • Anish Priyadarshi
    • , Firehun Tsige Dullo
    •  & Ganapathy Senthil Murugan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plant cells are elaborate three-dimensional polymer nano-constructs with complex chemistry. Here, multimodal scattering nearfield optical microscopy of poplar trees is used to establish in situ high-resolution mappings of the local dielectric functions and compositional distribution of lignin and cellulose in plant cell walls.

    • Anne M. Charrier
    • , Aubin C. Normand
    •  & Aude L. Lereu

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of materials and coatings for antiviral surfaces. Here, a comprehensive review is performed for natural and synthetic antiviral and virucidal materials, including a discussion of their underpinning mechanisms.

    • Paulina D. Rakowska
    • , Mariavitalia Tiddia
    •  & Ian S. Gilmore

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exposing spider silk to wet conditions can cause supercontraction. Here, tyrosine amino acid residues within the amorphous regions are found to contribute to supercontraction, which can be controlled by protein engineering.

    • Gabriele Greco
    • , Tina Arndt
    •  & Anna Rising

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A major challenge artificial retinas face is being able to activate neurons across a wide visual field. Here, a photovoltaic epiretinal prosthetic with over 10,000 pixels shows wide retinal coverage and single-pixel illumination, offering high spatial resolution discrimination in mouse models.

    • Naïg Aurelia Ludmilla Chenais
    • , Marta Jole Ildelfonsa Airaghi Leccardi
    •  & Diego Ghezzi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biomass pellets are a promising renewable source of fuel, and are increasingly transported around the globe. Here, it is found that the combined effect of heat and humidity during pellet storage causes inclusion, pore and crack growth, degrading the microstructure.

    • Luis Cutz
    • , Urša Tiringer
    •  & Wiebren de Jong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The effect of microbial communities on the degradation of polymer composites has not been widely studied. Here, a multi-omics and materials characterization approach reveals the time-dependent effect of naturally occurring microbes on the degradation of vinyl ester composites.

    • Adam M. Breister
    • , Muhammad A. Imam
    •  & Pavana Prabhakar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Deep vein thrombosis is the clotting of blood in deep veins. Here, a microfluidic device containing flexible valves fabricated in-situ is used to investigate the effects of blood flow conditions and valve elasticity on thrombus formation, revealing the circumstance under which clotting occurs.

    • Zoe Schofield
    • , Hosam Alden Baksamawi
    •  & Daniele Vigolo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Enzymes are effective at upgrading natural materials to high-performance biomaterials. Here, an ancestral endoglucanase is used to obtain highly crystalline cellulose nanocrystals, which can act as a matrix for cell growth and be combined with graphene for conducting inks.

    • Borja Alonso-Lerma
    • , Leire Barandiaran
    •  & Raul Perez-Jimenez

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Biological sciences across other nature.com journals