Comment

Nanomedicine may have a delivery problem. Rigorous, realistic and holistic rethinking is needed to improve nanomedicine performance and increase patient benefit in cancer therapy.

Organic photovoltaics are on the verge of revolutionizing building-integrated photovoltaics. However, for other applications, several basic open scientific questions need answering to, in particular, further improve energy-conversion efficiency and lifetime.

Far-sighted research policies, comprehensive research platforms, talent programmes and huge domestic markets are the impetuses for the fast progress of China's research in materials science.

Nature is the master in precision synthesis of macromolecules. In synthetic materials, achieving a high degree of structural precision is challenging and the influence of molecular defects on the properties of materials remains uncertain.

Biomaterials have the potential to solve problems in immunology; from the targeted delivery of immunomodulatory cancer drugs to monitoring the immune system.

Materials scientists need to enter the public debate on the energy system to ensure advances are made towards a sustainable future.

On the brink of the next revolution in electronic systems, nanomaterials and, in particular materials that are a few atoms thick are becoming increasingly apparent. Concurrently, computational scientists remain eager to see how Moore's Law will advance.