Themed collection Editor-in-Chief's choice - Marking Nicholas Dunne's appointment as EiC of Biomaterials Science

Amid the rising toll of war-associated deaths and injuries and escalating conflicts between countries, there is a strong need to manage complex battlefield injuries by preventing further deterioration and accelerating the repair of damaged tissues.

Theranostic hydrogels represent a groundbreaking approach for integrating therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities within a single platform, enabling real-time monitoring of wounds and precise treatment applications.

This review highlights emerging strategies for lung-targeted mRNA delivery using non-viral vehicles, describing advances in bioinspired design and nanoparticle engineering.

This review mainly focuses on the core applications of inorganic nanozymes in biomedicine, such as tumor catalysis/synergistic therapy, anti-bacterial therapy, and high-sensitivity diagnosis, along with the most innovative directions in this field.

This review introduces magnetic-based tissue engineering (MagTE) as an integrative approach that combines cell manipulation, remote stimulation, and maturation to streamline biofabrication and advance clinically relevant tissue constructs.

This review presents a multifaceted overview of how the biomanufacturing context including culture vessels, media, engineered surfaces, and workflows impact monocyte-derived dendritic cells for clinical applications.

Peripheral nerve injuries can lead to the loss of sensibility and function, strongly impairing the patient's quality of life. Biophysical stimulation can be combined with funcional materials and nanotechnology to improve nerve regerenation.

This figure illustrates the role of electrical signals in load-bearing soft tissues. Leveraging conductive or piezoelectric biomaterials, the application of tissue engineering techniques for damage repair is explored (created with BioRender).

Cartilage tissue engineering combines biomaterials, cells, and bioactive factors to create stable, functional neotissue. Scaffold-biomolecule interactions can be tuned to optimize tissue regeneration.

A comprehensive review of the advancements in living material-derived intelligent micro/nanorobots (LMNRs) is presented, highlighting their special characteristics, various functions, and biomedical applications.

Self-assembled models offer advantages in studying neural development, but standardisation, control, and scalability are limited. Engineering hydrogel-based models to mimic native tissue structures shows promise in overcoming these challenges.

Review on the biodistribution of mRNA-nanocarrier in primary organs highlighting key parameters for optimal protein expression.

This review provides a comprehensive understanding about how different classes of biomaterials, starting from macroscale to nanoscale, interact with bacteria and viruses to exert their antimicrobial properties through diverse mechanisms of action.

Polyamidosaccharides armed with hyaluronic acid disaccharide branches bind the transmembrane glycoprotein cluster of differentiation-44 (CD44), a highly expressed surface receptor that plays a critical role in tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis.

Design, characterization, and extrusion-based 3D printing of acrylate-terminated urethane-based PEG polymers into porous, cytocompatible scaffolds with controlled architecture for patient-specific meniscus implant applications.

This study introduces a fibroblast-free monoculture of endothelial cells in a fibrin matrix, where optimized growth factors, stiffness, and hypoxia promote stable, organized microvascular networks.

We report the development of engineered human stem cell-derived blood-brain barrier microphysiological systems for modeling neuroinflammation in Alzheimers' disease.

Supramolecular hydrogels based on water-soluble quaternised chitosan/alginate polyelectrolyte complexes showed self-healing and injectable properties, a sustained release of bovine serum albumin, and enabled cell encapsulation at physiological pH.

A bioactive hyaluronic acid hydrogel is developed by conjugation of gelatin and antimicrobial peptides.

Injectable hydrogels with self-healing properties, tissue adhesion, biocompatibility, and cancer therapeutic capabilities offer a promising solution for addressing bone loss and residual tumor cells following surgical resection of osteosarcoma.

We engineered SwellMA by combining gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) with sodium polyacrylate (SPA) to enable dynamic shape changes and enhanced performance in 4D bioprinting applications.

A hypoxia-activated and tumor microenvironment-remodeling nanoplatform is reported for effective breast cancer therapy via augmenting sonodynamic–chemodynamic-chemotherapy.

Simple templating of actuators via micro-topographical patterning (STAMP) enables precisely patterning muscle fibers within engineered tissues, enabling fabrication of complex multi-oriented architectures such as a biomimetic iris.

Traditionally used bone substitutes do not yield desired bone regeneration outcomes in critically-sized bone defects. Oxidation sensitive bone substitutes are an alternative that produce improved regeneration in large-scale bone defects.

Graphical representation of the production of MSC-Hyb LNPs via microfluidic sonication. After simultaneous rapid mixing of both phases under 30 kHz and 50 W sonication, the MSC-Hyb LNPs were formed from synthetic lipids and EV-derived material.