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Photochemistry enables biomaterials to be made and modified with high spatiotemporal and dose-dependent precision. In this Review, the authors investigate the recent and parallel developments in light-based chemistries and manufacturing technologies and discuss their combined applications in probing and directing 4D cell fate.
Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) has generated much interest in preclinical studies and shows great potential for clinical translation. Here, the authors discuss the fundamentals of PAI technology, key findings from pilot and clinical patient studies, challenges to the clinical translation of PAI, and the need for standardization for PAI to be adopted into healthcare systems.
The transplantation of encapsulated islets may provide a cure for type 1 diabetes. This Review outlines how islet-encapsulation devices and materials can be designed to protect islets from the host immune system, allow sufficient nutrient and oxygen supply, and enable revascularization as well as insulin release.
Virus nanotechnology can be exploited for intratumoural immunotherapy. This Review discusses the clinical and preclinical landscape of viruses and virus-like particles as tools and carrier vehicles for intratumoural immunotherapy.
Information on clinical trial progress and outcomes of implanted brain–computer interfaces (iBCIs) remains limited. This Review provides a comprehensive survey of all identified clinical trials of iBCIs for communication, motor control or restoration of tactile perception conducted from the first chronic implantation in 1998 to December 2023.
Synthetic gene circuits can endow cells with therapeutic functions. This Review discusses synthetic macromolecular systems, encompassing transcriptional, translational and post-translational mechanisms, that conditionally regulate protein expression and activity in response to specific internal or external stimuli, and their role in enhancing the therapeutic efficacy and safety of engineered cell therapies.
Microbial bioelectronic sensors offer rapid and cost-effective chemical monitoring by generating electrical signals. However, deploying such sensors in the field remains challenging. This Review proposes interdisciplinary solutions and integrates advances in chassis selection, genetic modification, material engineering and device fabrication.
Biomaterials can be designed to be injectable in a minimally invasive manner for the treatment of various conditions. This Review outlines design considerations for injectable biomaterials for different delivery routes, highlighting preclinical and clinical applications of injectable biomaterials.
Projection-based 3D bioprinting has the highest resolution/time for manufacturing ratio among all 3D printing technologies. This Review discusses the main components of projection-based 3D bioprinting and summarizes the necessary steps and challenges to improve bioprinting resolution.
Microbial catalysts must partition incoming substrate between synthesis of biomass and synthesis of a desired product. Two-stage bioprocesses can accommodate this tradeoff to maximize process productivity by temporal separation of growth and production phases. This Review discusses the challenges of maintaining a high metabolic activity during the production phase.
Volumetric compression is a pervasive phenomenon in the human body, manifesting during development, limb movement, digestion, tumorigenesis and injury. This Review provides an in-depth discussion of emerging engineering methods centred on volumetric compression, including foundational rationales, design principles and illustrative applications.
To overcome the immune rejection issue in allogeneic cell transplants, various genetic engineering strategies have been developed. This Review explores these advances and discusses challenges in evading immune responses, as well as considerations for clinical development.
This Review explores the principles and applications of cell purification technologies, with a particular emphasis on their clinical relevance for pluripotent stem-cell-based therapies. The authors discuss current technologies and emerging state-of-the-art approaches that promise even greater potential.
Degenerative retinal dystrophies, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, lead to blindness owing to the progressive damage of retinal photoreceptors. This Review discusses nanotechnology-based treatment approaches for vision restoration.
Nanozymes are nanomaterials that exert biocatalytic functions within biological systems. This Review discusses the design criteria and mechanisms of nanozymes for in vivo applications to treat different pathological disorders.
Drug delivery systems can be integrated with cell therapies to improve the efficacy and safety of therapeutic cells. This Review discusses the design of nanoscale, microscale and macroscale drug delivery systems for precise cell modulation, targeted cell and cargo delivery and cell protection.
Human brain organoids can partly mimic features of the human brain. This Perspective discusses key ethical considerations in human brain organoid research and introduces an ethical framework of mindful innovation to conceptualize and guide ethical considerations of human brain organoid research.
Nanoparticles, such as gold nanoparticles and magnetic ferrite nanoparticles, can be applied in biosensors for disease detection. This Review discusses the design of nanoparticles for clinical diagnostics, focusing on their optimization and device construction for the detection of nucleic acids, proteins and small molecules.
Cell engineering by synthetic biology typically relies on synthetic gene constructs that compete with the host cell for intracellular resources. This Review discusses how such resource competition can impact mammalian cell engineering and outlines strategies for how to mitigate cellular burden using circuit-centric and host-centric approaches.
Microbial nanowires are attractive materials for the fabrication of electronic devices because they are sustainably produced and can be genetically reengineered for a broad range of functionalities. Guberman-Pfeffer and colleagues describe novel devices and mass production strategies that have been demonstrated and outline the optimization strategies required for their commercialization.
