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Open Access
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Monolithic silicon for high spatiotemporal translational photostimulation
A silicon-based electrode system is described that allows tunable spatiotemporal photostimulation of cardiac systems, with the optoelectronic capabilities of these devices being demonstrated in mouse, rat and pig heart models.
- Pengju Li
- , Jing Zhang
- & Bozhi Tian
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Research Highlight |
Ivory artefacts’ origins revealed by telltale peptides
The family, genus or even species of animal that supplied the materials for a famed museum’s objects could be identified with minimal damage to the items.
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News & Views |
Sticky gels designed for tissue-healing therapies and diagnostics
Materials that adhere tightly to human tissues can promote healing and boost the sensitivity of biomedical diagnostic devices. An ‘evolving’ gel has been made that synergizes two strategies for forming interfaces with tissue.
- Sophia J. Bailey
- & Eric A. Appel
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Research Briefing |
Polymer films inspired by spider silk connect biological tissues and electronic devices
Linking biological tissues with electronic devices is challenging owing to the softness of tissues and their arbitrary shapes and sizes. An innovative water-responsive, supercontractile polymer film, inspired by spider silk, allows the construction of soft, stretchable and shape-adaptive tissue–electronic interfaces.
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Article |
Water-responsive supercontractile polymer films for bioelectronic interfaces
Water-responsive supercontractile polymer films composed of poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(ethylene glycol)-α-cyclodextrin inclusion complex contract by more than 50% of their original length within seconds after wetting and become soft and stretchable hydrogel thin films that can be used in bioelectronic interfaces.
- Junqi Yi
- , Guijin Zou
- & Xiaodong Chen
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Outlook |
This cyborg cockroach could be the future of earthquake search and rescue
From drivable bionic animals to machines made from muscle, biohybrid robots are on their way to a variety of uses.
- Liam Drew
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Nature Podcast |
Sanitary products made from plants could help tackle period poverty
Researchers have extracted absorbent materials from the succulent Agave sisalana for making local, low-cost period products.
- Julie Gould
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Article |
Injectable tissue prosthesis for instantaneous closed-loop rehabilitation
An injectable hydrogel for use as a scaffold to aid tissue repair is described, the material of which is conductive so that it can be used both for electrophysiological measurement and electrostimulation in closed-loop robot-assisted rehabilitation.
- Subin Jin
- , Heewon Choi
- & Mikyung Shin
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Research Highlight |
Give these ‘living composite’ objects a squeeze and watch them glow
A material made from tiny algae and a natural polymer can be 3D printed into a variety of shapes.
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Where I Work |
Feeding bacteria seaweed to make compostable plastic
Bioprocess engineer Jesús E. Rodríguez’s team dreams of replacing all synthetic plastics with biodegradable products.
- Patricia Maia Noronha
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Research Briefing |
Cholesterol can make surfaces non-stick
Surfaces that contain cholesterol, such as the skin of some invertebrates, can repel other molecules, preventing the adsorption of proteins and bacteria. Experiments, simulations and thermodynamic analyses show that this repulsive quality depends on cholesterol molecules rotating freely and switching their orientation.
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Article
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Entropic repulsion of cholesterol-containing layers counteracts bioadhesion
Entropic repulsion caused by interfacial orientational fluctuations of cholesterol layers restricts protein adsorption and bacterial adhesion, providing a conceptually new physicochemical perspective on biointerfaces that may guide future material design in regulation of adhesion.
- Jens Friedrichs
- , Ralf Helbig
- & Carsten Werner
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Nature Podcast |
Why bladder cancer cells that shed their Y chromosome become more aggressive
Researchers uncover how loss of this chromosome helps cancer cells evade the immune system, and engineering synthetic cartilage.
- Shamini Bundell
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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Article |
Cartilage-like protein hydrogels engineered via entanglement
The introduction of chain entanglements into protein-based hydrogels yields hydrogels with high stiffness, high toughness, fast recovery and ultrahigh compressive strength, with mechanical properties close to those of cartilage.
- Linglan Fu
- , Lan Li
- & Hongbin Li
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Article |
Hydration solids
A study shows that water can control macroscopic properties of biological materials through the hydration force, giving rise to a distinct class of solid matter with unusual properties.
- Steven G. Harrellson
- , Michael S. DeLay
- & Ozgur Sahin
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Article
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Enhanced rare-earth separation with a metal-sensitive lanmodulin dimer
A study biochemically and structurally characterizes a lanmodulin from Hansschlegelia quercus with an oligomeric state sensitive to rare-earth ionic radius.
- Joseph A. Mattocks
- , Jonathan J. Jung
- & Joseph A. Cotruvo Jr
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Outlook |
Accelerating drug development with 3D neural models
A reproducible cell-culture system could help to evaluate new therapies for disorders that affect the brain.
- Christine Evans-Pughe
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Outlook |
Bioglue breakthrough
A nature-inspired adhesive offers hope for wound healing and haemorrhage control.
- Elie Dolgin
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Research Highlight |
‘Smart’ sutures: old-fashioned gut thread gets a makeover
Stitching material made from cell-free gut tissue is not only strong but can also be used to sense inflammation.
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Article |
Enantioselective sensing by collective circular dichroism
An array of 2D crystals of isotropic, 432-symmetric chiral gold nanoparticles is shown to exhibit collective resonances with a strong and uniform chiral near field, allowing enantioselective detection by the collective circular dichroism.
- Ryeong Myeong Kim
- , Ji-Hyeok Huh
- & Ki Tae Nam
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Research Briefing |
Plant-cell machinery for making metabolites transferred to mammalian cells
Supplies of the crucial molecules ATP and NADPH are lacking in many human diseases, but restoring them requires tight control. Using light-powered thylakoid structures from plants to carefully deliver these molecules to the joints of arthritic mice slowed degeneration.
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Article
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A plant-derived natural photosynthetic system for improving cell anabolism
Proof of concept of the viability of a plant-derived photosynthetic system based on nanothylakoid units encapsulated in a chondrocyte membrane to enhance cell anabolism in chondrocytes is demonstrated.
- Pengfei Chen
- , Xin Liu
- & Xianfeng Lin
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Outlook |
Recycling our way to sustainability
A circular economy requires an overhaul of product design, consumption and waste management. Although recycling is dismissed by some as insufficient, it remains an essential process.
- Sarah King
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Outlook |
How to fit clothing into the circular economy
Vast amounts of textiles end up in landfill. Technology to recycle the cellulose in fabric could make clothing more sustainable.
- Neil Savage
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Article |
Real-time bioelectronic sensing of environmental contaminants
The combination of synthetic biology and materials engineering enabled the development of biosensors that produce electrical readouts and real-time detection capabilities.
- Joshua T. Atkinson
- , Lin Su
- & Caroline M. Ajo-Franklin
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Article |
Self-assembly of emulsion droplets through programmable folding
For a minimal model system of colloidal droplet chains, with programmable DNA interactions, it is shown that controlling the order in which interactions are switched on directs folding into unique structures.
- Angus McMullen
- , Maitane Muñoz Basagoiti
- & Jasna Brujic
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Article
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4-bit adhesion logic enables universal multicellular interface patterning
A synthetic cell-cell adhesion logic using swarming E. coli with 4 bits of information is introduced, enabling the programming of interfaces that combine to form universal tessellation patterns over a large scale.
- Honesty Kim
- , Dominic J. Skinner
- & Ingmar H. Riedel-Kruse
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Research Highlight |
Silk imitates mother of pearl for a tough, eco-friendly material
Proteins that make up silk fibres can be formed into a material with a structure similar to that of the lustrous lining of oyster shells.
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Research Highlight |
Nature’s first known solid ‘nanofoam’ helps pollen to ride the wind
A porous layer gives pollen grains extraordinary toughness while allowing them to float on the breeze.
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Research Highlight |
It’s alive! Bio-bricks can signal to others of their kind
Large structures can be built from a microbial material with self-healing properties.
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Research Highlight |
High-speed spinning yields some of the toughest spider silk ever found
The silk that whizzes out of jumping spiders mid-bound is of superior quality.
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Research Highlight |
Moulded or folded, this wood stays strong
By tinkering with the structure of wood fibres, scientists have boosted the material’s flexibility and strength.
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Research Highlight |
Beetles make ‘Teflon’ to grease their knees
The protein-based substance found in the leg joints of beetles and at least one other insect is a superb lubricant.
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Nature Index |
Birds of paradise reveal a dark secret
Super-black feathers at the interface of biology, photonics and materials science.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Research Highlight |
The surprise hidden in the teeth of the ‘wandering meatloaf’
The teeth of a marine mollusc hold the mineral santabarbaraite, which has been found in no other living thing.
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Research Highlight |
Material mimicking lobster belly cracks the code for toughness
Who needs a shell? Crustacean’s lower surface spawns a synthetic substance that could lead to flexible armour.
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Perspective |
Developing fibrillated cellulose as a sustainable technological material
Opportunities for the application of fibrillated cellulose materials—which can be extracted from renewable resources—and broader manufacturing issues of scale-up, sustainability and synergy with the paper-making industry are discussed.
- Tian Li
- , Chaoji Chen
- & Liangbing Hu
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Article |
Design of biologically active binary protein 2D materials
Design of a two-component protein array enables robust formation of complex large-scale ordered biologically active materials.
- Ariel J. Ben-Sasson
- , Joseph L. Watson
- & David Baker
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Research Highlight |
The crystalline armour that protects ants in battle
A species of leaf-cutter ant is the first known example of an insect with mineralized armour, which shields them during combat.
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News |
This beetle’s stab-proof exoskeleton makes it almost indestructible
Jigsaw-puzzle-shaped seams that hold a notoriously tough insect’s wing cases together could inspire engineers.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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Article |
Toughening mechanisms of the elytra of the diabolical ironclad beetle
A jigsaw-style configuration of interlocking structures identified in the elytra of the remarkably tough diabolical ironclad beetle, Phloeodes diabolicus, is used to inspire crush-resistant multilayer composites for engineering joints.
- Jesus Rivera
- , Maryam Sadat Hosseini
- & David Kisailus
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Article |
Active particles induce large shape deformations in giant lipid vesicles
Experiments and simulations show that local non-equilibrium forces exerted by self-propelled particles trapped inside a giant unilamellar lipid vesicle induce dramatic shape changes in the vesicle.
- Hanumantha Rao Vutukuri
- , Masoud Hoore
- & Jan Vermant
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Article |
Homeostatic mini-intestines through scaffold-guided organoid morphogenesis
Miniature gut tubes grown in vitro from mouse intestinal stem cells are perfusable, can be colonized with microorganisms and exhibit a similar arrangement and diversity of specialized cell types to intestines in vivo.
- Mikhail Nikolaev
- , Olga Mitrofanova
- & Matthias P. Lutolf
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Article |
Reverse and forward engineering of Drosophila corneal nanocoatings
The building blocks of the nanostructures observed on Drosophila corneas are determined, and then used to create artificial nanostructures with anti-reflective and anti-adhesive properties.
- Mikhail Kryuchkov
- , Oleksii Bilousov
- & Vladimir L. Katanaev
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Article |
Chemical gradients in human enamel crystallites
Hydroxylapatite crystallites in human dental enamel show gradients in chemical composition, with a layer of magnesium enrichment on each side of a core rich in sodium, fluoride and carbonate ions.
- Karen A. DeRocher
- , Paul J. M. Smeets
- & Derk Joester
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News Feature |
How artificial kidneys and miniaturized dialysis could save millions of lives
After decades of slow progress, researchers are exploring better treatments for kidney failure — which kills more people than HIV or tuberculosis.
- Charlotte Huff
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Article |
Antagonistic cooperativity between crystal growth modifiers
Inhibitor pairs that suppress the crystallization of haematin, which is a part of malaria parasites’ physiology, show unexpected antagonism due to attenuation of step pinning by kink blockers.
- Wenchuan Ma
- , James F. Lutsko
- & Peter G. Vekilov
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News |
Australian biobank repatriates hundreds of ‘legacy’ Indigenous blood samples
The return is part of a groundbreaking approach that could inspire other institutions grappling with how to use historical samples ethically in research.
- Dyani Lewis
Blueprinting extendable nanomaterials with standardized protein blocks