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Open Access
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Autonomous self-burying seed carriers for aerial seeding
A study describes a wood-based, three-tailed, biodegradable seed carrier that self-drills into the ground in response to moisture fluctuations with a success rate higher than that of natural self-drilling seeds.
- Danli Luo
- , Aditi Maheshwari
- & Lining Yao
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Article |
Living material assembly of bacteriogenic protocells
A bacteriogenic strategy for constructing membrane-bounded, molecularly crowded, and compositionally, structurally and morphologically complex synthetic cells provides opportunities for the fabrication of new synthetic cell modules and augmented living/synthetic cell constructs.
- Can Xu
- , Nicolas Martin
- & Stephen Mann
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Letter |
An electric-eel-inspired soft power source from stacked hydrogels
Miniature hydrogel compartments in scalable stacked and folded geometries were used to prepare a contact-activated artificial electric organ.
- Thomas B. H. Schroeder
- , Anirvan Guha
- & Michael Mayer
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News |
Lab-made droplets roll themselves
Gel mimics the molecular motors inside living cells.
- Nidhi Subbaraman
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Research Highlights |
Engineered 'jellyfish'
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Outlook |
Technology: The taste of things to come
Artificial tongues that mimic the human sensory experience could aid the development of better and more consistently flavoured foods.
- Neil Savage
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Letter |
Biomimetic self-templating supramolecular structures
- Woo-Jae Chung
- , Jin-Woo Oh
- & Seung-Wuk Lee
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News & Views |
Mosquitoes bamboozled
Mosquitoes harbouring the malaria parasite follow pulses of carbon dioxide exhaled by their human prey to track them down. A novel set of chemicals can distract these insects by disrupting their sense of smell. See Letter p.87
- Mark Stopfer
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Letter |
Suppression of inflammation by a synthetic histone mimic
Post-translationally modified histones are recognized by effector proteins which contain specific binding modules; for example, the bromodomain-containing BET proteins bind acetylated lysine residues during gene activation. Here a synthetic small molecule is described that interferes with the binding of certain BET family members to acetylated histones. The compound inhibits activation of pro-inflammatory genes in macrophages and has activity in a mouse model of inflammatory disease.
- Edwige Nicodeme
- , Kate L. Jeffrey
- & Alexander Tarakhovsky
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Research Highlights |
Biomimetics: Material monitors mugginess
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News |
Beetle-based bonding
Device inspired by nature clings to surfaces using 'liquid bridges'.
- Daniel Cressey
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News & Views |
Model offers intermediate insight
Chemical models of enzymes' active sites aid our understanding of biological reactions. Such a model of a reaction intermediate promises to advance our knowledge of the biochemistry of iron-containing haem enzymes.
- Kenneth D. Karlin
A microscale soft ionic power source modulates neuronal network activity