biomaterials

Wastewater is more than waste. It contains diverse microorganisms that may offer valuable tools for green biotechnology. Our review explores how wastewater-derived probiotic bacteria can support the sustainable biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles and their potential antimicrobial applications.

The same technology used to deliver mRNA in COVID-19 vaccines is being used to target a type of immune cell that can help tumours evade the body's defences. Adelaide University researchers have effectively reprogrammed these cells so they can do their job and fight cancer.

MIT Media Lab researchers developed injectable nanoantennas, called HITMAN, that are magnetically activated to generate localized electric fields targeting drug-resistant brain cancer tumors. Preclinical studies showed HITMAN eliminated 52 percent of glioblastoma cells and extended survival by 50 percent with no side effects.

Most microbial life on Earth exists as biofilms, large interkingdom microbial communities living within a self-synthesised matrix of extracellular polymeric substances. These living structures are critical to the survival of all life on Earth, driving biogeochemical processes within ecosystems and performing key functions in the maintenance of animal and plant health. As powerhouses of these life…

Nature Communications, Published online: 11 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-77655-1 The authors combine computer simulation and experimental fabrication to co-design living muscle and its scaffold, optimizing the range of motion of bioactuators to power biohybrid robots that can jump, swim, walk and grip.

Building a house on Mars would be extremely difficult. The planet is bitterly cold, has very low air pressure and receives dangerous levels of radiation. Transporting enough conventional building materials from Earth would also be enormously expensive and could take months. Scientists have now developed a possible alternative: a material made from Martian rocks, gelatin […] The post This Living M…

Introduction: The prospects for using magnetic hyperthermia in cancer therapy are largely determined by the properties of the magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), including heating efficiency, biosafety, and bioresorption capacity. In this study, we performed a comparative in vivo assessment of the toxicity and bioresorption of Fe3O4- and Zn0.2Mn0.8Fe2O4-based MNPs stabilized with oleic acid/sodium ole…

Nature Biomedical Engineering, Published online: 31 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41551-026-01782-9 A protein engineering strategy enables nitric oxide-triggered reactivation of proteins using genetically encoded caged amino acids, allowing inflammation-localized control of protein activity, viral gene delivery and biosensing in vivo.

[Cell Biomaterials] The authors summarize recent advances in recapitulating the ECM in organ-on-chip systems and argue that the next generation of organ-on-chip platforms will be defined not by increasing structural complexity alone but by their ability to integrate biologically instructive ECMs with manufacturable biomaterial systems.

[iScience] Researchers developed degradable amorphous silica fiber scaffolds that actively support biomineral nucleation and growth while maintaining long-term stability. The scaffolds degraded linearly over 40 weeks, and biomineralization enhanced compressive modulus by more than 100%.

korean designers reimagine thousand-year-old hanji mulberry paper into tactile, light-diffusing biomaterial at maison&objet 2026. The post ancient korean hanji paper transformed into sustainable biomaterials at maison&objet 2026 appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine .

Nature Communications, Published online: 10 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-77395-2 Mitochondrial transfer from astrocytes to cancer cells fuels metabolic reprogramming and enhances glioblastoma (GBM) tumorigenicity. Here this group reports a polymeric nanoplatform co-loading S-Gboxin and Galunisertib targeting GBM mitochondria and mitochondrial transfer in astrocyte-cancer cell crosstalk,…

Nature Electronics, Published online: 10 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41928-026-01688-z A multiphasic-gel-based ion transporter system with cascaded-heterointerface ion traps can offer multistate ionic neuromorphic processing with energy consumption as low as 0.61 pJ per spike.

Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and disabilities each year. India alone reports nearly 50,000 deaths every year, the most by snakebite in the world.

Nature, Published online: 09 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10968-9 Deep-foam photolithography uses light-controlled polymer foaming to create high-resolution, multifunctional microstructures with tunable optical, wetting and fluid-handling properties for advanced manufacturing applications.