Volume 6 Issue 5, May 2021

Nature Reviews Materials speaks to Donald Ingber, Founding Director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, about the animal testing conundrum and the importance of human-relevant models in biomedical research.

Scientists worldwide struggle to identify suitable animal models to study SARS-CoV-2 infections. Interspecies-related differences, such as host specificity, divergent immune responses, or the unavailability of species-specific reagents hamper the research. Human-based models, such as micro-engineered multi-organs-on-chip, may hold the solution.

The future of our species and planet hinges on our scientific creativity to tackle future challenges. However, the trust of the public in scientific processes needs to be earned and kept, which will require inclusive, self-reflecting, honest and inspiring science communication.

An article in Nature Sustainability reports the use of a common plastic, polyethylene, to make fabrics that have a low environmental footprint and are cheap and recyclable.

Colloidal quantum dots are promising materials for realizing versatile, wavelength-tunable, solution-processed lasers. This Review surveys recent advances in colloidal quantum dot lasing, provides an in-depth analysis of outstanding challenges and discusses a path forward to implementing technologically viable lasing devices.

Organoids are cellular 3D models of organs, which provide powerful in vitro platforms for the investigation of tissue and disease biology. In this Review, the authors investigate engineering approaches, including cellular engineering, designer matrices and microfluidics, to improve the reproducibility and physiological relevance of organoids.

The reversibility of transition-metal coordination bonds affords broad control over the structural dynamics of materials. This Review surveys the design principles underlying the utilization of this dynamic crosslink chemistry to engineer tunable mechanical properties in biological materials and protein and polymer hydrogels.

Active liquid crystals are a particular type of active materials in which an inherent structural anisotropy leads to long-range order and topological defects. This Review discusses natural and synthetic active liquid crystals, and explores their autonomous behaviour as well as potential applications.