{"title":"The automated red pen","authors":"Marcelo T. de Oliveira, Sophie Whitehouse","doi":"10.1038/s41570-026-00868-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-026-00868-x","url":null,"abstract":"Large language models can grade a stack of chemistry assignments before the kettle has boiled. Whether we should let them depends less on speed than on purpose. Before an AI marker influences grades, it should be validated like an analytical method, with defined limits, quality control and a route to appeal.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"10 9","pages":"600-601"},"PeriodicalIF":51.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148707179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Missing marks made visible","authors":"Subhajit Dutta","doi":"10.1038/s41570-026-00861-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-026-00861-4","url":null,"abstract":"RNA modifications shape function but are hard to localize. A recent study used an enzyme-based fluorescent method to image queuine-deficient tRNAs in cells.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"10 9","pages":"605-605"},"PeriodicalIF":51.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148685211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The past, present and future of self-driving laboratories","authors":"Richard B. Canty, Milad Abolhasani","doi":"10.1038/s41570-026-00847-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-026-00847-2","url":null,"abstract":"Self-driving laboratories (SDLs) merge autonomous experimentation, advanced reactor engineering, robotics and artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific knowledge creation. Over the last decade, SDLs have progressed from narrowly focused automation tools to multipurpose discovery platforms in which algorithms propose, execute and interpret experiments with limited human intervention. This Review traces the evolution of SDLs and examines the structural asymmetries that limit their maturation into shared scientific infrastructure. We frame the next phase of the field around three interdependent requirements: scalability, generalizability and provenance-complete experimentation. Realizing collective scientific superintelligence will require SDLs that reliably scale throughput, transfer workflows and learned models across laboratories and scientific domains and capture end-to-end experimental data and metadata from precursor preparation through synthesis, characterization and performance evaluation. Achieving this transition will depend on interoperable data and metadata standards, modular and integrable experimental hardware, and trustworthy artificial intelligence agents that reason under uncertainty within rigorous safety and ethical boundaries. Self-driving laboratories integrate automation, robotics and artificial intelligence to accelerate chemical discovery. This Review charts their evolution from bespoke systems to interoperable platforms, highlighting challenges in scalability, generalizability and data provenance, and outlining pathways towards networked, trustworthy infrastructures enabling collective scientific superintelligence.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"10 8","pages":"523-537"},"PeriodicalIF":51.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148630970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jordan N. Smith, Jess L. Algar, Nina R. Lawson, Zack T. Avery, Nicholas G. White, Dan Preston
{"title":"Supramolecular self-assembly by layering orthogonality to program identity, connectivity and conformation","authors":"Jordan N. Smith, Jess L. Algar, Nina R. Lawson, Zack T. Avery, Nicholas G. White, Dan Preston","doi":"10.1038/s41570-026-00860-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-026-00860-5","url":null,"abstract":"Supramolecular systems derive their structure and function from reversible interactions or bonds that direct components into defined architectures. Natural assemblies such as enzymes, nucleic acids and membranes illustrate how different types of dynamic interactions can act in parallel to control the presence, order, sequence and orientation of assembled components, yet remain independent from one another to enable advanced function. Reproducing this level of control in discrete, artificial systems relies on the same approach. This Review outlines how different reversible interactions found in supramolecular systems — dynamic-covalent bonds, metal-coordination, hydrogen bonding, σ–hole and π-interactions — can be used individually or in concert to program the assembly of sophisticated structures at equilibrium. Emphasis is placed on systems of low symmetry or complex topology, showcasing strategies for generating discrete receptors, capsules, cages, interlocked architectures and foldamers with structural precision. The supramolecular self-assembly of topologically complex architectures is governed by the interplay of many reversible interaction types. This Review highlights strategies and limitations of combining different classes of interactions that must act orthogonally to direct structure. DCC, dynamic-covalent chemistry.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"10 10","pages":"663-686"},"PeriodicalIF":51.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148605353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Making sense of hydrogen evolution","authors":"Adrian Lathouwers","doi":"10.1038/s41570-026-00863-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-026-00863-2","url":null,"abstract":"Adrian Lathouwers explains how a custom glass photoreactor, which integrates an amperometric microsensor, enables controlled and reproducible hydrogen evolution measurements for assessing photocatalytic activity.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"10 9","pages":"604-604"},"PeriodicalIF":51.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148605326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hyun-Seock Yang, Jae-Hwan Kim, Keonwoo Park, Eui Dae Jung, Byung-Soon Kim, Jeongjae Lee, Henry J. Snaith, Jin-Wook Lee, Bo Ram Lee
{"title":"Physicochemical processes in evaporation-based perovskite LEDs","authors":"Hyun-Seock Yang, Jae-Hwan Kim, Keonwoo Park, Eui Dae Jung, Byung-Soon Kim, Jeongjae Lee, Henry J. Snaith, Jin-Wook Lee, Bo Ram Lee","doi":"10.1038/s41570-026-00844-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-026-00844-5","url":null,"abstract":"Evaporation-based manufacturing of halide perovskite light-emitting diodes has garnered increasing attention as a promising alternative for addressing issues with conventional solvent-based processing methodologies. Similar to existing organic light-emitting diode processing infrastructures, evaporation-based processing uses vapour-phase precursor transport and deposition, enabling solvent-free synthesis, precise nanoscale thickness control and enhanced patterning resolution. The physicochemical mechanism of such vacuum-based deposition and growth processes, which is radically different from that of solution-based processes, involves complex thermodynamic and kinetic factors regarding solid–vapour–solid transitions. This imposes much more stringent requirements for deposition environment, mandating concurrent advances in the fundamental understanding of evaporation and growth phenomena, as well as deposition equipment design. In this Perspective, we present a chemistry-driven framework for incorporating fundamental physicochemical principles into evaporation-based processing, with the aim of guiding reproducible and scalable perovskite light-emitting diode deposition system. This Perspective presents a chemistry-driven framework linking physicochemical processes to system-level control in evaporation-based perovskite light-emitting diodes. We provide actionable guidelines for reproducible deposition and scalable device manufacturing.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"10 9","pages":"637-655"},"PeriodicalIF":51.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148549819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mathematics and mentorship make a recipe for success","authors":"Stephanie Greed, Isiah M. Warner","doi":"10.1038/s41570-026-00859-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-026-00859-y","url":null,"abstract":"Ahead of his 80th birthday, Isiah M. Warner, Boyd Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University, discussed his life in science.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"10 9","pages":"602-603"},"PeriodicalIF":51.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148522046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cameron W. Evans, Cooper M. Kyrwood, Lennart J. Schaefer, James L. Wood, Kai Chen, Craig A. Bell, Kristofer J. Thurecht, Xiaojuan Qi, Haibo Jiang, Cameron Alexander, Sébastian Perrier, Vincent M. Rotello, K. Swaminathan Iyer
{"title":"Sequence-defined polymers for predictable gene delivery","authors":"Cameron W. Evans, Cooper M. Kyrwood, Lennart J. Schaefer, James L. Wood, Kai Chen, Craig A. Bell, Kristofer J. Thurecht, Xiaojuan Qi, Haibo Jiang, Cameron Alexander, Sébastian Perrier, Vincent M. Rotello, K. Swaminathan Iyer","doi":"10.1038/s41570-026-00850-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-026-00850-7","url":null,"abstract":"Polymer-mediated gene delivery is evolving from stochastic design methodologies to precise molecular engineering. Traditional polymers, although effective in nucleic acid complexation, face challenges in terms of structural heterogeneity, unpredictable pharmacokinetics and inefficient endosomal escape. These challenges have driven interest in sequence-defined polymeric systems, which enable atomic-level control over monomer composition, charge distribution and functionality. Sequence-defined polymers provide opportunities to establish robust structure–function relationships, overcome biological barriers and achieve targeted delivery to specific tissues. This Review examines the architectural evolution of polymeric gene carriers and highlights how increasing structural precision correlates with enhanced functional performance. Synthetic methodologies enabling sequence control are analysed, from solid-phase approaches to flow chemistry and supramolecular templating. By integrating polymer science with biological outcomes, we present a strategic framework for addressing persistent challenges in non-viral gene delivery. Polymer vectors for non-viral gene delivery are typically inefficient and heterogeneous. This Review explores how sequence-defined polymers, advanced synthesis, imaging and computational design can enable precise, reproducible and programmable polymer systems for efficient and clinically translatable nucleic acid delivery.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"10 8","pages":"577-595"},"PeriodicalIF":51.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148459884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qianqian Ni, Donald A. Tomalia, Jing Wu, Christina Galanakou, Ling Peng
{"title":"Precision chemical engineering of dendrimers for nucleic acid delivery","authors":"Qianqian Ni, Donald A. Tomalia, Jing Wu, Christina Galanakou, Ling Peng","doi":"10.1038/s41570-026-00855-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-026-00855-2","url":null,"abstract":"Nucleic acid therapeutics, including oligonucleotides, messenger RNA and DNA, are promising drug modalities for treating various diseases. However, despite their increasing impact on medicine, their precise and efficient delivery remains a considerable challenge. Dendrimers, recognized by their uniquely branched architecture and precise structures in concert with cooperative multivalency, are a platform for targeted and precise delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics. Here we review state-of-the-art engineering of dendrimers pertaining to nucleic acid delivery, highlighting progress made in their design and functional mechanization for delivering different types of nucleic acids for therapeutic applications. We also discuss challenges including manufacturing, safety and regulatory issues associated with their clinical applications. Finally, we conclude by offering our perspective on dendrimer engineering that are expected to overcome current obstacles for advancing nucleic acid therapeutics development. Dendrimers offer precise and tunable platforms for nucleic acids delivery. This Review outlines advances in dendrimer engineering for the delivery of diverse nucleic acids, highlighting their applications in therapeutics, vaccines and genome editing. Translational challenges including manufacturing, safety and regulatory considerations are also discussed, with perspectives to accelerate clinical translation.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"10 9","pages":"620-636"},"PeriodicalIF":51.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41570-026-00855-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148451401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Maximilian Schuler, Ayan Chatterjee, David Y. W. Ng, Tanja Weil
{"title":"Bridging stimulus-responsive and dissipative peptide assemblies to build complex interactive biomaterials","authors":"Maximilian Schuler, Ayan Chatterjee, David Y. W. Ng, Tanja Weil","doi":"10.1038/s41570-026-00846-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-026-00846-3","url":null,"abstract":"Self-assembling peptides are versatile building blocks for biomaterials owing to their programmable sequences and ability to form complex supramolecular architectures. Designing systems that operate dynamically at the biological interface is particularly compelling, as living systems rely on both stimulus responsiveness and continuous energy dissipation to regulate structure and function. However, most synthetic peptide assemblies remain confined to near-equilibrium behaviour, whereas chemically fuelled dissipative systems often lack compatibility with biological environments. In this Review, we discuss recent advances in stimulus-responsive and dissipative peptide assemblies, highlighting their distinct design principles and functional capabilities. We compare sequence-encoded and trigger-based strategies with chemically fuelled reaction networks that enable transient assembly. Finally, we outline emerging strategies to bridge these approaches, including improving bioorthogonality, tuning concentration regimes, and integrating cellular processes. Together, these concepts provide a framework for developing interactive peptide biomaterials with life-like functions. Self-assembling peptides offer programmable routes to biomaterials with dynamic behaviour. Here, we compare stimulus-responsive and dissipative peptide assemblies, outline their design principles, and highlight strategies to integrate them, enabling complex, interactive biomaterials that emulate the non-equilibrium functions of living systems.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"10 8","pages":"558-576"},"PeriodicalIF":51.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148451400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}