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Bioengineering breakthroughs often arise from deceptively simple solutions, leveraging scalability, modularity and ease-of-use. However, certain biomedical applications require the integration of custom-engineered, patient-specific complexity. Striking this simplicity–complexity balance will drive affordable, globalized health innovations.
At the Gates Foundation, the newly established Women’s Health Innovations team supports the research, development and increased access to innovative products, devices and platforms aimed at improving women’s health. Importantly, women should have a central role in the women’s health innovation ecosystem, leading research, shaping strategies and making funding decisions.
Insect-derived proteins and fats present viable food constituents. They can be bioengineered and fermented to improve their nutritional value and functionality to promote food security and the development of new superfoods. Nonetheless, scale-up production and translation of insect-derived proteins and fats remain difficult.
The versatility of three-dimensional printed pharmaceuticals, relative to traditionally manufactured ones, could be leveraged for personalized treatment at the point of care, as well as being integrated into mass-manufacturing pipelines. Improvements in quality control and collaboration with regulatory bodies will pave the way to large-scale clinical translation.
The Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) provides recommendations to unlock the full potential of digital health trials, including tools to develop digital biomarkers or endpoints, apply remote technology and interact with health authorities.
Many scientific breakthroughs occur when researchers with different expertise come together to work collaboratively, an effort welcomed by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). This Comment provides the perspective of two program officers from the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to help researchers with collaborative projects apply for NIH funding.
An article in Nature Communications reports a metabolic modelling-based framework to construct synthetic microbiomes that can degrade specific herbicides in soil.
Global health-related research and development continues to uphold colonialist structures, concentrating knowledge generation and innovation to high-income countries, thereby hindering global health equity. Therefore, in addition to engineering new technologies, bioengineers will need to try to engineer equitable relationships.
New insights into active versus passive nanoparticle tumour entry and exit mechanisms are enriching the understanding of tumour-targeted drug delivery. Here we align the principles of enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) and active transport and retention (ATR), and outline how their mechanistic features can be employed to improve the performance and clinical impact of cancer nanomedicines.
Postdoctoral researchers (postdocs), vital contributors to academia, often face vulnerability and uncertainty. Here is a wish list from a fellow postdoc, outlining key measures to improve postdoctoral life — from employment stability and fair compensation to better work-life balance and mentorship.
Organoid intelligence towards biocomputing may provide insights into the neuroscience of learning and memory, and offer a biohybrid form of information processing. Advances in brain region-specific organoid engineering, sensors and signal-processing tools, integration of artificial intelligence, and miniaturization will pave the way for organoid intelligence to make an impact in biomedicine and beyond.
Prosthetic embodiment, or the incorporation of a prosthesis into one’s sensory and functional body schema, may be achieved by engineering bionic limbs that leverage a closed-loop mechanoneural–machine interface. However, the subjective experience of embodiment remains difficult to define and assess.
Viruses can be engineered to deliver nucleic acids, peptides and proteins for plant trait reprogramming. Building on market approvals and sales of recombinant virus-based biopharmaceuticals for veterinary and human medicine, similar innovations may be applied to agriculture for transient or heritable biodesign of crops with improved performance and sustainable production.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is finding its way into healthcare. Therefore, medical students need to be trained to be ‘bilingual’ in both medical and computational terminology and concepts to allow them to understand, implement and evaluate AI-related research.
An article in Nature Communications reports the implications of anti-PEG immune reactions for PEG-based hydrogel implants and tissue engineering applications.
Smart food packaging technologies can actualize real-time, in situ food quality monitoring, increasing food safety and decreasing food waste. Here, we detail challenges that hinder the commercialization of such smart packaging systems and identify opportunities to facilitate their translation from prototype to product.
Wound healing mechanisms differ depending on the sex, particularly in chronic wounds. Therefore, sex should be considered in the design of nanomedicine- and biomaterials-based wound healing therapies, both in preclinical and clinical testing.
Neuromodulation and brain–computer interfaces are rapidly evolving fields with distinct origins but with the shared goal of improving the lives of people with neurological and psychiatric disorders or injuries. Their increasing technological overlap provides new opportunities for collaborative work and rapid progress in neurotechnology.
Fats and oils are crucial dietary supplements for human health. However, animal fats and palm oil dominate the food industry, with concerns over health and the environment that call for the development of fat alternatives. The fat industry offers a vast market potential, with several startups pioneering new technical solutions and attracting venture capital interest.
