A Mendelian randomization study reveals PCSK9 inhibitors may reduce low back pain (LBP) risk, while HMGCR and NPC1L1 inhibitors show no significant association, providing genetic evidence for lipid-lowering drug safety and new insights into PCSK9 pleiotropy.

Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) have developed a new class of synthetic molecules that can capture sulfate, a widespread industrial and environmental contaminant, with unprecedented efficiency in water. The study demonstrates that entangled molecular structures, long considered mainly chemical curiosities, can be deliberately engineered for real-world applications, including water purification, chemical sensing, and environmental monitoring.

A brain-inspired hardware platform could lead to the development of compact, low-power AI hardware. By mimicking how the brain processes information, the platform improved the speed, accuracy and energy efficiency of simulated tasks such as spoken-digit recognition and early seizure detection.

In the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, researchers have developed a new bioprinting strategy that allows tissues to be printed at near-physiological cell density that is close to what is found in real organs, while still achieving fine structural detail and functional vascular channels.

Health monitoring is becoming increasingly critical for disease prevention, early diagnosis, and high-quality living. Polymeric materials, with their mechanical flexibility, biocompatibility, and tunable biochemical properties, offer unique advantages for creating next-generation personalized devices. In recent years, flexible polymer-based platforms have shown remarkable potential to capture diverse physiological signals in both daily and clinical contexts, including electrophysiological, biochemical, mechanical, and thermal indicators. In this review, we introduce a safety-level-oriented framework to evaluate material and device strategies for health monitoring, spanning the continuum from noninvasive wearables to deeply embedded implants. Physiological signals are systematically classified by use case, and application-specific requirements such as stability, comfort, and long-term compatibility are highlighted as critical factors guiding the selection of polymers, interfacial designs, and device architectures. Special emphasis is placed on mapping material types—including hydrogels, elastomers, and conductive composites—to their most suitable applications. Finally, we propose design principles for developing safe, functional, and adaptive polymer-based systems, aiming at reliable integration with the human body and enabling personalized, preventive healthcare.

A joint research team led by Professor Jung Ho Yoon from the School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University (President Yoo Ji-Beom) has reported for the first time that the resistive switching behavior of ion-motion-mediated volatile memristors, which are emerging as promising next-generation semiconductor devices, originates from a combined mechanism comprising multiple conductive filaments coupled with electrothermal effects.