This issue highlights low-noise polymer-coated glucose sensors, endovascular stents for focal stimulation of the motor cortex, implantable pre-metastatic niches, tissue-engineered models of the human ventricle, self-repairing engineered skeletal muscle incorporating macrophages, and the modelling of mutation-related cardiomyopathies with engineered cardiac microtissues.

The cover illustrates a scale model of the human left ventricle made of nanofibrous scaffolds and human stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes, for the study of contractile function and the modelling of arrhythmia induced by structural defects.

See MacQueen et al.

This issue includes a Perspective on the design of reproducible preclinical studies with an eye on translatability, and highlights the encapsulation of allogeneic pancreatic islet cells to extend their longevity after implantation, telmisartan prodrugs for the reduction of liver fibrosis, the conjugation of haematopoietic stem cells and anti-PD-1-decorated platelets for treating leukaemia, inhaled bacteriophage-loaded polymeric microparticles for treating lung infections, nanoparticle-mediated mRNA delivery for restoring the growth suppression of prostate tumours, and renal-protective DNA-origami nanostructures.

The cover illustrates a monkey’s omental bursa bearing transplanted allogeneic pancreatic islet cells encapsulated in alginate, which reduces foreign-body responses and extends the cells’ longevity.

See Bochenek et al.

This issue highlights machine-learning algorithms that explain hypoxaemia risk under anaesthesia during surgery, that identify polyps in colonoscopy images and videos, and that predict post-surgical adverse pathology in prostate-cancer and breast-cancer tissue samples. It also highlights predictions of tumour uptake and distribution of specific therapeutic agents, and a personalized virtual-heart model for finding radio-frequency ablation targets for infarct-related tachycardia.

The cover illustrates variations in risk factors contributing to hypoxaemia under general anaesthesia, as predicted by machine learning.

See Lundberg et al.

This issue highlights point-of-care devices for diagnosing aggressive lymphomas and infectious diseases, a first-in-human study of robotic-assisted surgery in the eye, a portable device for the automated manufacturing of therapeutic-grade biologics, a skin-conformable sensor of blood pressure, and a magnetic wire for the intravascular recovery of labelled circulating tumour cells.

The cover illustrates a skin-conformable ultrasonic device that captures the blood-pressure waveform from a deep artery or vein.

See Wang et al.

This issue highlights wearable magnetic resonance coils for imaging the hand, cancer-immunotherapy approaches that promote the polarization of tumour-associated macrophages, and the combination of systemic immune checkpoint inhibition with local radioisotope therapy or local radiotherapy–radiodynamic therapy to promote effective antitumour responses in mice.

The cover illustrates the use of MRI to image the biomechanics of the hand’s soft tissue via a flexible array of high-impedance detectors fitted on a glove.

See Zhang et al.

This issue highlights neuroengineering advances, including optogenetic control of the activity of opposing muscle pairs, silicon interfaces for light-controlled non-genetic neuromodulation, genome editing in the brain of a mouse model of fragile X syndrome, and the generation of neural tissues via the modulation of culture conditions and of induced neuronal cells via direct reprogramming of fibroblasts.

The cover illustrates the non-invasive modulation of brain circuits, with cell-type and spatiotemporal specificity, via focused ultrasound and virally encoded receptors engineered to be activated by a designer drug.

See Szablowski et al.

This issue includes a Focus on cell therapies, with an emphasis on cardiac regenerative medicine and immunotherapy. Also highlighted in this issue are a replenishable epicardial device for the sustained delivery of therapeutics, the mechanical in vivo maturation of human intestinal organoids, a cell-culture method for the formation of organ-specific metastases, and a microvasculature-on-a-chip device.

The cover illustrates the delivery of a cell therapeutic to diseased tissue.

This issue highlights ultrastable micelles for drug delivery, a ribonucleoprotein octamer for targeted siRNA delivery, a protein-modification approach for targeting heart tissue, the local delivery of cardiomyocyte-secreted extracellular vesicles for heart regeneration, and the safety and efficacy of an immunotherapy for reducing plaque inflammation in atherosclerosis.

The cover illustrates myocardial rat tissue regenerated after infarct via the sustained cell-free delivery, through a hydrogel patch, of extracellular vesicles secreted by cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells.

See Liu et al.

This issue highlights a microfluidic technique for the fast diagnosis of sepsis, a continuous-acquisition method for cardiovascular MRI, topically applied imaging nanoprobes for the detection of abnormal scars, Cherenkov-excited luminescence for imaging tumours in vivo, and a method for predicting the sensitivity of cancer cells to inhibitors of the epidermal-growth-factor receptor. The cover illustrates a microfluidic device for the diagnosis of sepsis from a drop of blood via analysis of the spontaneous motility of neutrophils.

See Ellett et al.

This issue highlights needle-shaped piezoelectrics for discriminating abnormal and healthy tissue, deep learning for predicting cardiovascular risk factors from retinal images, painless microneedle-based blood draws, a simpler growth-factor-free stem-cell culture system, and ultralow-input microfluidics for profiling brain methylomes.

The cover illustrates a biopsy needle with mounted piezoelectrics for distinguishing tumour and healthy tissue via variations in tissue modulus.

See Yu et al.

This issue highlights simultaneous molecular and functional imaging with PET–CT and ultrafast ultrasound, antibiotic-loaded nano particles targeted to infection sites, elastomeric force sensors for single-cell force cytometry, airborne-triggered pain relief via engineered cells, and the biomaterial-aided engraftment of stem cells transplanted in the heart.

The cover illustrates the simultaneous imaging, via positron emission tomography and ultrafast ultrasound, of metabolism and vasculature in a growing tumour.

See Provost et al.

This issue highlights a personalized cardiovascular occluder made via 3D printing, a cloud-based machine-learning software for the prediction of CRISPR–Cas9 off-target effects, a stem-cell-based approach for the treatment of myocardial infarction, and engineered microbes for cancer chemoprevention.

The cover illustrates a 3D-printed personalized occluder for closing the heart’s left atrial appendage so as to prevent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.

See Robinson et al.