News & Comment

More off-the-beaten-track strategies are needed for enhancing the accumulation of drugs at target sites, for improving the drugs’ cell-type specificity and for reducing their off-target toxicity.

Proteins that tag surface receptors for degradation by triggering their endocytosis can be computationally designed so that they do not compete with native receptor ligands for binding.

DNA microbeads loaded with an agonist for Wnt and injected into retinal organoids allow for the spatiotemporal control of gradients of the morphogen to better direct organoid development and maturation.

A biomarker in retinal images identified by a deep-learning algorithm can predict biological age as well as mortality and morbidity.

A water-soluble dye that absorbs blue light strongly makes it easier to turn mice transparent.

Stress-sensitive neural circuitry affects immunity via the gut microbiome.

The design of implanted biomaterials and devices should involve strategies for the prevention of inflammation and fibrosis that enhance the functional lifespan of the implants.

The Internet didn’t disrupt academic publishing. Audiovisual generative AI might do.

The widening range of strategies to alter the phenotypes and functions of mammalian cells is a boon for their biomedical applications.

Applied biomedical research needs more of them to be more broadly useful, reproducible and robust.

A patient-centred system that leverages the analysis of sweat via wearable sensors may better support the management of patients with substance-use disorders.

Generalist large language models can elevate the quality and efficiency of academic writing.

Appealing against an editor’s negative decision is likely to be more fruitful when considering the basis of the editorial assessment and offering ways forward.

A handy go-between may soon assist authors and editors.

Pharmaceutical companies continue to advocate for the use of in vitro models towards the reduction of animal use in drug discovery and development while acknowledging that further advancements are needed to heighten the models’ current state of readiness.

When designing diagnostic assays intended for point-of-care use, more attention should be given to simplicity of operation.

Increasingly physiological in vitro models and techniques for measuring forces at multiple scales are enabling unanticipated findings in tissue mechanopathology.

The management of health and of disease conditions will eventually be supported by ever more integrated and less conspicuous wireless bioelectronic devices designed to continuously monitor multiple biomarkers.

Leverage curiosity, open-mindedness and the deliberate seeking of feedback.

Leveraging or improving established technology for clinical imaging to extract additional physiological information can enhance the quality of the subsequent assessments and widen the technology’s uses.