How can additive manufacturing and metamaterials improve healthcare for aging populations? In a review published in the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, researchers examine how 3D printing technologies—particularly laser powder bed fusion and vat photopolymerization—are used to create personalized implants and tissue models using metals, polymers, and even living cells. Their work highlights the role of bioinspired lattice structures and mechanical metamaterials in addressing age-related biomedical challenges and advancing the future of regenerative medicine.

During embryonic development, thousands of cells divide and move as one. Understanding the mechanisms that coordinate this collective behavior remains a significant challenge in biology and the physics of living systems. Researchers from UC San Diego have discovered that avian embryos control their size and shape using modular, independent physical mechanisms. This work may help develop strategies for engineering synthetic biomaterials.

A team led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick engineers has developed a portable device capable of detecting rare genetic mutations from a single drop of blood.

The instrument, described in a study published in Communications Engineering of the Nature Publishing Group, was shown in lab experiments to quickly and accurately test for a genetic condition called hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis, which can cause heart problems.

Researchers from the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security at the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University have developed a genetic editing method tailored to crop plants, which has influenced various traits in tomato plants, including the taste and shape of the fruit.

A joint research team led by Prof. Yoonjae Choi of the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI and Prof. Hwajeong Hong of the Department of Industrial Design has successfully developed and deployed a Virtual Teaching Assistant (VTA) that provides personalized feedback to individual students even in large-scale classes.

This year marks the opening of the United Nations Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences, an international initiative focused on the rapid changes occurring in glaciers, snow cover, ice sheets, sea ice, and permafrost and their impacts on the planet. MBARI’s advanced technology will play a critical role in this effort, providing important data about the Arctic seafloor and the Southern Ocean. MBARI research is answering fundamental questions about polar environments and other components of the cryosphere. This information can help resource managers and policymakers make decisions about the future of this important ecosystem.

A study published by Associate Professor Yanfei Li’s team from Hunan Agricultural University in Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering provides an innovative solution to this challenge (DOI: 10.15302/J-FASE-2025613).