Reviews & Analysis

Organic and inorganic nanoparticles have different clearance mechanisms from the brain resulting in different biological fates and retention times.

Electrochemical carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction in acid with a nano-structured tandem catalyst achieves high single-pass conversion efficiency and selectivity to useful C–C coupled products, bringing the process closer to commercial viability.

Nanoparticles naturally accumulate in the liver; this can be a major limitation to any therapy needing delivery to other organs or tissues. Here the authors review the reason for predominant liver uptake and explore different strategies used to target non-viral gene delivery nanoparticles to other organs and tissues.

Conserved regions of the circular DNA sequence of the M13mp18 bacteriophage, which is used as a scaffold for DNA origami construction, are targeted with specific hybridization-chain-reaction probes. The probes enable sensitive detection of DNA origami nanostructures in cells, organoids and tissues to assess their biodistribution and stability.

Using fluorinated elastomers in the fabrication of soft neural probes is shown to enhance spatiotemporal recording capability at single-neuron resolution within the central nervous system of rodents. Other soft encapsulation materials could be similarly engineered for high-resolution, long-lasting bioelectronics.

A biohybrid, leaf-spring design of DNA origami functions as a pulsating nanoengine that exploits the DNA-templated RNA transcription mechanism while consuming nucleoside triphosphates as fuel. The nanoengine also drives a nanomechanical follower structure.

Directionality of nonlinear emission from a dielectric metasurface is controlled by fine-tuning the relative time delay and polarization of two pulsed pump beams.

Electric field tunable interlayer excitons in a van der Waals bilayer emit at an energy of twice the band gap.

This Perspective discusses the current understanding of extracellular vesicles within the context of their movement into and out of blood circulation, with an outlook on leveraging extracellular vesicle nanobiology for mechanistic insights as well as diagnostic and nanotherapeutic applications in both physiological and pathological contexts.

Graphene multistacks with four or five layers show the signature of correlated electronic states both in and out of a magnetic field.

This Review aims to spur developments in next-generation functional materials by highlighting design rules to interconnect length and timescales.

The Review discusses epitaxial quantum dot devices emitting in the telecom bands for quantum network devices.

To determine the physiologically relevant oligomeric form of membrane proteins is extremely challenging. Now an elegant method of counting the oligomers in membrane proteins in near-native states is presented, using photobleaching and nanodiscs formed directly from cellular membranes.

Catalytic metals dissolved in liquid gallium remain atomically dispersed and dynamically active. The configurational dynamics of the metal atoms enables them to adopt a specific configurational alignment with the reactants to facilitate selective propylene synthesis from two different hydrocarbon feedstocks.

A DNA origami nanoturbine is designed as a rotary motor that draws power from an ion gradient or electrical potential across a solid-state nanopore. Single-molecule experiments demonstrate that the turbine can drive a DNA bundle into sustained unidirectional rotation, with the preferred rotation direction set by the chirality of the turbine.

Nanoscale inhomogeneity is a major barrier to achieving high nonlinear efficiency in nanophotonic lithium-niobate waveguides. Using adapted poling in the waveguide — to circumvent the inhomogeneity and restore ideal phase matching — is shown to break through this efficiency limit.

A biohybrid nanoparticle formulation effectively treats rheumatoid arthritis by concurrently providing symptom relief and restoring proper immune function.

In a major advancement for synthetic biology, dynamin A has been identified as a minimal component enabling cell division in synthetic cells, moving us one step nearer to realizing the ambition of creating synthetic life forms.