Studies reported in Science and Nature Materials highlight the importance of softness in cell behaviour. The study of cell signalling has traditionally focused on chemical cues such as growth factors, cytokines, transcriptional regulators and, more recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs) as the primary drivers of cell behaviour. Yet cells do not exist in isolation. Every cell resides in a physical environment that pushes, pulls, resists and deforms it. Increasingly, research is showing that this physical context is not secondary, but fundamental.

Biomed in 2026 will be shaped by a collision between maturing platforms (engineered cytokines, extracellular vesicles, gene therapy) meeting faster discovery tooling (AI) and tighter geopolitical and regulatory constraints (U.S. - China decoupling pressures; shifting U.S. science and health priorities under Trump-era policy).

If cytokines and growth factors send clear signals, extracellular vesicles (EVs) are complex chords. They have emerged as a powerful and versatile mode of communication. But how clear can the instructions from these complex particles be?

Researchers are turning to PODS sustained release chemokines to readily generate stable chemokine gradients in vitro and in vivo without any specialist equipment.

There is no single international standard for what qualifies as a rare disease. In the UE, it is a disease that affect fewer than 1 in 2000 people.

Since emerging in the last 20 years, expectations for exosomes have developed into hype in some areas. What is their real potential?

As new therapies emerge, charitable funding has become crucial, accelerating early research, supporting clinical trials, and offering renewed hope for affected children and families.

Critical gaps between experimental models and clinical reality are the reason why clinical trials of promising drugs often fail. Closing those gaps can save huge amounts of money lost to failed trials. The right scaffold is critical to model accuracy