Review Articles

Renal function can be replaced by bioengineered kidney tissue. This Review discusses in vivo kidney engineering, xenotransplantation, blastocyst complementation and stem-cell-derived kidney tissue engineering as approaches for renal replacement therapy.

Continuous monitoring of diverse biomolecular signatures has the potential to transform our understanding of personalized and preventative medicine. This Review Article discusses the emerging trends and pertinent considerations for the development of a new generation of body-based biomolecular sensors for in vivo measurement.

Owing to the high failure rates of the current drug development process, biomedical research is undergoing a paradigm shift towards approaches centred on human disease models. This Review critically discusses translationally relevant examples and defines key milestones for their widespread application.

Peptide epitopes of structural and signalling proteins constitute the language through which cells communicate and orchestrate biological processes. This Review provides a library of peptide epitopes that can serve as a molecular toolbox for the design of bioactive synthetic matrices.

The implementation or insertion of medical devices into the body can lead to infections and inflammation, which are often challenging to treat because of the presence of microbial biofilms and antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms. This Review outlines preclinical testing strategies for medical devices with antimicrobial properties to avoid and reduce medical-device-associated infections.

Neurological disorders or traumatic events that cause hand paralysis considerably limit our ability to proactively interact with our surroundings. This Review discusses neuroprosthetic solutions to restore voluntary hand movements by bypassing the neural lesion.

Phase separation of biomolecular condensates provides a new framework to understand cellular organization and functions. In this Review, the authors discuss the applications and design considerations of synthetic biomolecular condensates to regulate cellular functions as a new paradigm for synthetic biology.

Circulating biomarkers can be detected and analysed in the form of liquid biopsies to improve disease diagnosis and monitoring. This Review discusses the integration of specific assay designs in miniaturized device platforms for the detection of circulating biomarkers, including whole cells, extracellular vesicles and cell-free factors.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell activities can be remotely controlled to provide spatiotemporal precision of CAR T cell activity and improve the safety of cellular immunotherapies. This Review discusses physical and chemogenetic stimuli and the combination of stimuli-responsive nanotechnologies with immuno-engineering to design controllable CAR T cell therapies.

Physical properties affect immune signalling and effector functions in distinct immune cell subtypes. This Review discusses the impact of engineering nanomaterial physical characteristics on modulating immune responses and thus promoting efficient and effective cancer immunotherapy.

Plant-based recombinant protein production has the power to ensure rapid and global-scale deployment of biopharmaceuticals. This Review discusses genetic tools and systems for the plant-based production and engineering of biopharmaceuticals, including vaccines and monoclonal antibodies.

Organoids recapitulate many aspects of native tissues and even display tissue and organ-level functionality, although with limited control over morphogenesis. This Review describes an emerging framework, termed middle-out tissue engineering, that facilitates spatiotemporal control of tissue-specific cell niches to enable deterministic organoid self-organization and build more advanced in vitro tissue models.

Therapeutic nanoparticle and biomaterial systems can be specifically designed to deliver drugs for the treatment of women’s health-related conditions. This Review discusses the engineering and optimization of delivery technologies for women’s health applications, including vaginal infections, reproductive tract disorders, pregnancy conditions and congenital disorders.

Bioreactors enable the cultivation of mammalian cells in a closely monitored and controlled microenvironment. This Review discusses bioreactor technologies and closed-loop set-ups for producing patient-specific engineered-tissue grafts, including skin, small-diameter arteries and musculoskeletal tissues, with a particular focus on commercialization and regulatory considerations.

Electrochemical biosensors can be integrated into wearable, portable and implantable devices for health monitoring and disease diagnosis. This Review discusses the design and integration of different types of electrochemical biosensors for the detection of analytes related to health and disease, and outlines engineering challenges that need to be addressed to enable clinical translation of electrochemical biosensor-based point-of-care devices.

Current methods for the genetic manipulation of plants have low throughput and are amenable to a limited range of species. This Review discusses advances in the development of nanotechnology tools and the understanding of structure–function relationships to overcome these issues.

Cytokines are key regulators of the immune system and can be recombinantly designed as therapeutics for immune-related disorders. However, the severe toxicity of recombinant cytokines limits their clinical translation. In this Review, the authors highlight bioengineering approaches for the design of clinically applicable and safe cytokine-based therapeutics.

Developing point-of-care devices for the detection of pathogenic bacteria is essential to prevent and treat infections and to provide food security. This Review highlights paper-based analytical devices with substantial point-of-care applicability for bacteria detection and discusses challenges and opportunities for future development.

The performance of chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR T) cell products after adoptive transfers is influenced by the phenotype of the CAR T cells at time of transfer. Here, the authors review strategies to modulate these phenotypes during CAR T cell manufacturing to improve their antitumour performance.

Tissues of the central nervous system (CNS) can be functionally modelled using cell biology-based and engineering-based strategies to allow the study of CNS mechanisms, function and pathology in vitro. This Review discusses the design of bioengineered CNS models, highlighting how customizable tissues can enable a mechanistic deconvolution of complex CNS functions.