Reviews & Analysis

Increasing evidence suggests parental environmental stressors can influence offspring health and disease outcomes. In this perspective, the authors provide an update of the paternal epigenetic inheritance field and propose links between paternally transmitted epigenetic influences and functional changes to the embryo.

Naturally evolved genomes tend to be unnecessarily large and redundant, and are not optimised for biotechnological or research applications. In this review, the authors explore genome minimization and re-functionalisation approaches, and discuss their potential for industrial applications.

Yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris, are promising chassis for the production of nature products (NPs). Here, the author discusses establishing a comprehensive platform for sustainable production of NPs via system-associated optimization at genetics, temporal controllers, productivity screening, and scalability levels.

In this perspective, the authors hypothesise that glial senescence, requiring senescent microglia burden, perpetuates further aging, Alzheimer’s pathologies, and senescence. Increasing glial senescence is proposed as necessary to drive individuals from healthy cognition into cognitive decline and dementia.

One of the ambitions of computational neuroscience is that we will continue to make improvements in the field of artificial intelligence that will be informed by advances in our understanding of how the brains of various species evolved to process information. To that end, here the authors propose an expanded version of the Turing test that involves embodied sensorimotor interactions with the world as a new framework for accelerating progress in artificial intelligence.

One of the main sources of uncertainty in carbon budgets is that continental landscapes are made up of a heterogeneous mosaic of ecosystems. Here the authors put forward an integrative framework to improve estimates of land-atmosphere carbon exchange based on the accumulation of carbon in the landscape as constrained by its lateral export through rivers.

Establishing sustainable approaches for human space exploration is key to achieve independency from terrestrial resources, as well as for ethical considerations. Here the authors highlight microbial biotechnologies that will support sustainable processes for space-based in situ resource utilization and loop-closure, and may be translatable to Earth applications.

Smartphone-based mobile health platforms have drawn increasing attention from researchers developing point-of-care testing devices. Here the authors summarize recent progress and future directions of approaches combining microfluidics and artificial intelligence.

The field of terahertz wireless communication is growing rapidly. Here the authors discuss the challenges for the architectures of wireless platforms above 100 GHz and their potential applications.

Microrobotics is an emerging technology with wide implications for medical fields, such as assisted reproduction. Here the authors show how the key challenges regarding materials, processes and engineering as well as ethical and regulatory implications can be addressed towards a clinical adoption.

The cystic fibrosis landscape has changed dramatically over the last few decades, with improvements in patient quality of life, prognosis and predicted survival. In part, this is related to the availability of novel CFTR modulator drugs, although prior advances in symptom-directed therapies and diagnosis had already led to substantial improvements. However, the authors, part of a national CF focused group, recognize that more needs to be done and outline their considerations on research priorities in this perspective.

Zooplankton are a critical link to higher trophic levels and play an important role in global biogeochemical cycles. This Review examines key responses of zooplankton to ocean warming, highlights key knowledge and geographic gaps that need to be addressed, and discusses how better use of observations and long-term zooplankton monitoring programmes can help fill these gaps.

In the field of lithium-based batteries, there is often a divide between academic research and industrial needs. Here, the authors present a view on applied research to help bridge academia and industry, focusing on metrics and challenges to be considered for the development of practical batteries.

Here the authors summarize current knowledge of the regulation of protein stability by various post-translational modifications (PTMs) including methylation and phosphorylation. PTM-regulated degrons act as signals for protein degradation or stabilization.

CRISPR-Cas tools have shown exceptional promise in genome engineering over the past decade. Here the authors review the development of CRISPR-Cas9/Cas12/Cas13 nucleases, DNA base editors, prime editors, and RNA base editors, as well as their editing precision, off-target effects, and clinical considerations.

During development the embryo must balance lineage specification against the preservation of plasticity using a limited molecular toolkit. In this Perspective, the authors propose Molecular Versatility as a paradigm for grouping molecular mechanisms that are repurposed through development to exert distinct functions.

While it is widely acknowledged that Darwin’s descriptions of females were gender-biased, gender bias in modern sexual selection research is less recognized. This Perspective highlights that sexual selection theory and research are still male-centered and suggest strategies for alleviating biases in this field and beyond.

Theoretical models and structures recovered from measured data serve for analysis of complex networks. The authors discuss here existing gaps between theoretical methods and real-world applied networks, and potential ways to improve the interplay between theory and applications.

Synthetic biology encompasses engineering approaches to either redesign biological organisms with new molecular abilities or build up organism from the bottom to improve our understanding of life. Here, the authors summarize current approaches that can be applied for the synthetic engineering of viral replication cycles and discuss the potential DURC risk associated with such bottom-up approaches in infectious disease.

Long-duration human space travel creates challenges for maintaining healthy diets. Here the authors discuss using synthetic biology approaches to modify yeast into an optimal, and enjoyable, food production platform.