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Lipid nanoparticles are increasingly adept at delivering therapeutics to specific tissues and cell types, and, in some cases, the nanoparticles themselves can now modulate cellular behaviour, immune function and therapeutic outcome.
The therapeutic potential of mRNA had been on the radar for decades but it took an alliance with lipid nanoparticle research to make it a reality. Researchers are now looking for ways to better increase efficacy and reduce side effects to extend the potential of the delivery agents from vaccines to pulmonary and neurological interventions.
Future bioelectronics depend not only on developing and improving device functions, but also on designing materials and delivery strategies that adapt to living environments.
Nicola Spaldin, professor of materials theory at ETH Zurich and vice-president for physical sciences and engineering at the European Research Council (ERC), talks to Nature Materials about the ERC, the grants they oversee and the objectives of the new ERC Plus grant.
To increase the technological value of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and promote their translation into real-world applications, societal needs, market interests and industry requirements need to be considered early on in MOF research and development.
Xuanhe Zhao, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, talks to Nature Materials about the considerations of mechanical and materials properties to achieve biocompatible and stable bioelectronics.
The materials sector in Europe is renowned for its research excellence but scale-up and industrialization of materials is less successful. The 2026 Advanced Materials Act is an opportunity to structurally reposition Europe in the global materials economy.
Intercalation at van der Waals interfaces enables atomic- or molecular-scale engineering of two-dimensional materials, transforming approaches for their synthesis and functionalization.
Paul Westerhoff and Jacob Jones discuss how the unique chemistry of phosphorus enables technologies beyond agricultural fertilizers, ranging from batteries to semiconductors and quantum materials.
Mechanical cues regulate both metastatic dissemination and antitumour immunity. Integrating these processes through mechano-immunology may provide a framework to understand metastatic progression.
Amal Kasry discusses the shift from quantum science to quantum technology, warning of the risk of a structural divide and emphasizing the need to act now to ensure that these technologies deliver shared prosperity.
Abu Sebastian, a distinguished research scientist at IBM Research in Zurich, talks to Nature Materials about the opportunities and challenges of memristive devices for in-memory computing and their potential to commercialization.
Ilia Valov, a professor at the Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and at the Forschungszentrum Jülich, talks to Nature Materials about the relationship between nanoscale structure, composition, electrochemistry and the properties and functionalities of memristors.
Characterizing structural evolution alongside mechanical behaviour is challenging for micro- and nanostructured materials, highlighting the need for advancing in situ characterization techniques.
Artificial intelligence may have transformed image and language generation, but in materials science, data scarcity and synthesis complexity demand a different approach. Only by coupling artificial intelligence with deep chemical insight can we turn virtual predictions into real materials.
