The new diagnostic is based on nanosensors that can be delivered by an inhaler or a nebulizer. If the sensors encounter cancer-linked proteins in the lungs, they produce a signal that accumulates in the urine, where it can be detected with a simple paper test strip.

This approach could potentially replace or supplement the current gold standard for diagnosing lung cancer, low-dose computed tomography (CT). It could have an especially significant impact in low- and middle-income countries that don’t have widespread availability of CT scanners, the researchers say.

“Around the world, cancer is going to become more and more prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. The epidemiology of lung cancer globally is that it’s driven by pollution and smoking, so we know that those are settings where accessibility to this kind of technology could have a big impact,” says Sangeeta Bhatia, the John and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science.

Bhatia is the senior author of the paper, which appears today in Science Advances. Qian Zhong, an MIT research scientist, and Edward Tan, a former MIT postdoc, are the lead authors of the study.

Inhalable particles

To help diagnose lung cancer as early as possible, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that heavy smokers over the age of 50 undergo annual CT scans. However, not everyone in this target group receives these scans, and the high false-positive rate of the scans can lead to unnecessary, invasive tests.

Bhatia has spent the last decade developing nanosensors for use in diagnosing cancer and other diseases, and in this study, she and her colleagues explored the possibility of using them as a more accessible alternative to CT screening for lung cancer.

These sensors consist of polymer nanoparticles coated with a reporter, such as a DNA barcode, that is cleaved from the particle when the sensor encounters enzymes called proteases, which are often overactive in tumors. Those reporters eventually accumulate in the urine and are excreted from the body.

Previous versions of the sensors, which targeted other cancer sites such as the liver and ovaries, were designed to be given intravenously. For lung cancer diagnosis, the researchers wanted to create a version that could be inhaled, which could make it easier to deploy in lower resource settings.

“When we developed this technology, our goal was to provide a method that can detect cancer with high specificity and sensitivity, and also lower the threshold for accessibility, so that hopefully we can improve the resource disparity and inequity in early detection of lung cancer,” Zhong says.

To achieve that, the researchers created two formulations of their particles: a solution that can be aerosolized and delivered with a nebulizer, and a dry powder that can be delivered using an inhaler.

Once the particles reach the lungs, they are absorbed into the tissue, where they encounter any proteases that may be present. Human cells can express hundreds of different proteases, and some of them are overactive in tumors, where they help cancer cells to escape their original locations by cutting through proteins of the extracellular matrix. These cancerous proteases cleave DNA barcodes from the sensors, allowing the barcodes to circulate in the bloodstream until they are excreted in the urine.

In the earlier versions of this technology, the researchers used mass spectrometry to analyze the urine sample and detect DNA barcodes. However, mass spectrometry requires equipment that might not be available in low-resource areas, so for this version, the researchers created a lateral flow assay, which allows the barcodes to be detected using a paper test strip.

The researchers designed the strip to detect up to four different DNA barcodes, each of which indicates the presence of a different protease. No pre-treatment or processing of the urine sample is required, and the results can be read about 20 minutes after the sample is obtained.

“We were really pushing this assay to be point-of-care available in a low-resource setting, so the idea was to not do any sample processing, not do any amplification, just to be able to put the sample right on the paper and read it out in 20 minutes,” Bhatia says.

Accurate diagnosis

The researchers tested their diagnostic system in mice that are genetically engineered to develop lung tumors similar to those seen in humans. The sensors were administered 7.5 weeks after the tumors started to form, a time point that would likely correlate with stage 1 or 2 cancer in humans.

In their first set of experiments in the mice, the researchers measured the levels of 20 different sensors designed to detect different proteases. Using a machine learning algorithm to analyze those results, the researchers identified a combination of just four sensors that was predicted to give accurate diagnostic results. They then tested that combination in the mouse model and found that it could accurately detect early-stage lung tumors.

For use in humans, it’s possible that more sensors might be needed to make an accurate diagnosis, but that could be achieved by using multiple paper strips, each of which detects four different DNA barcodes, the researchers say.

The researchers now plan to analyze human biopsy samples to see if the sensor panels they are using would also work to detect human cancers. In the longer term, they hope to perform clinical trials in human patients. A company called Sunbird Bio has already run phase 1 trials on a similar sensor developed by Bhatia’s lab, for use in diagnosing liver cancer and a form of hepatitis known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

In parts of the world where there is limited access to CT scanning, this technology could offer a dramatic improvement in lung cancer screening, especially since the results can be obtained during a single visit.

“The idea would be you come in and then you get an answer about whether you need a follow-up test or not, and we could get patients who have early lesions into the system so that they could get curative surgery or lifesaving medicines,” Bhatia says.

The research was funded by the Johnson & Johnson Lung Cancer Initiative, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

A collaborative research team led by Professor Sung-Min Park from the Departments of Convergence IT Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering, and the School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering at POSTECH, alongside Jiho Lee, enrolled in the MS/Ph.D. program, and Professor Sang-Woo Kim from Yonsei University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, together with Dr. Young-Jun Kim and MS/Ph.D. student Joon-Ha Hwang from Sungkyunkwan University, has achieved a groundbreaking development. They’ve created electrostatic materials that function even with extremely weak ultrasound, heralding the era of permanent implantable electronic devices in biomedicine. This research has been published in the international academic journal Advanced Materials.

Patients with implanted devices need to undergo periodic surgeries for battery replacement. This process carries a significant risk of complications and imposes both economic and physical burdens on patients. Recent research explores implantable medical devices that operate wirelessly, yet finding a safe energy source and protective materials remains challenging. Presently, titanium (Ti) is used due to its biocompatibility and durability. However, radio waves cannot pass through this metal, necessitating a separate antenna for wireless power transmission. Consequently, this enlarges the device size, creating more discomfort for patients.

The research team addresses this issue by opting for ultrasound, a safety-validated method in various medical fields for diagnoses and treatments, instead of radio waves. They developed an electrostatic material capable of responding to weak ultrasound by utilizing a composite of high dielectric polymers (P(VDF-TrFE)) and a high dielectric constant ceramic material known as calcium copper titanate (CCTO, CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂). This material generates static electricity through friction between its material layers, producing effective electrical energy, and possesses an extremely low output impedence, facilitating efficient transmission of the generated electricity.

Using this technology, the research team created an implantable neurological stimulator powered by ultrasound-based energy transmission, eliminating the need for batteries. This was confirmed through experimental validation. In animal model trials, the device was activated even at standard imaging ultrasound levels (500 mW/cm²), imposing minimal strain on the human body. Furthermore, it effectively mitigated symptoms related to abnormal urination caused by overactive bladder disorders through nerve stimulation.

Professor Sung-Min Park stated: “We have addressed the challenges in the field of implantable medical devices using ultrasound-based energy transmission technology that is harmless to the human body. This research serves as a case of introducing advanced material technology into medical devices, and we anticipate that it will promote the emergence of a next-generation medical industry, including the treatment of intractable diseases using implantable devices.”

Professor Sang-Woo Kim remarked: “Devices manufactured based on highly biocompatible materials exhibit excellent mechanical and chemical stability, making them suitable for treating various diseases requiring long-term therapy. Non-battery, miniaturized components with established long-term stability are expected to bring forth new innovations in the market of human-insertable medical devices.”

The research was conducted with support from the Research Leader Program, Pioneer Program of Future Technology, and Bio & Medical Technology Development Program by the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Ministry of Science and ICT, along with Yonsei Fellowship.

“We found three walls of a monumental structure that evidence suggests belonged to a Roman temple that dates to Constantine’s period,” Boin said. “It dates to the fourth century AD and it would be a remarkable addition to the landscape of this corner of Italy. It will significantly aid in the understanding of the ancient town, the ancient townscape and city society in the later Roman Empire because it shows the continuities between the classical pagan world and early Christian Roman world that often get blurred out or written out of the sweeping historical narratives.”

Boin and his excavation team made the monumental discovery over the summer. Boin, an expert in ancient Roman and its religious transitions, had been digging in the town of Spello, the famous medieval hilltop city about 20 minutes from Assisi and 2.5 hours north of Rome. Boin selected the town based on a rescript of a 4th century letter from Emperor Constantine to the townspeople regarding a religious holiday.

This rescript, which was discovered in the 18th century, allowed the people of Spello to celebrate a religious festival in their hometown rather than travel a great distance to another festival. However, in order to do so, the town was told it must erect a temple to Constantine’s divine ancestors, the Flavian family, and worship them, showcasing how multicultural Roman society was at the time.

“There was a remarkable religious continuity between the Roman world and the early Christian world,” Boin said. “Things didn’t change overnight. Before our find, we never had a sense that there were actual physical, religious sites associated with this late ‘imperial cult practice.’ But because of the inscription and its reference to a temple, Spello offered a very tantalizing potential for a major discovery of an Imperial cult underneath a Christian ruler.”

Boin traveled to Spello and oversaw underground imaging to determine if there were any potential ruins below the surface that needed to be uncovered. After many weeks, and almost by chance, Boin finally received promising images underneath a parking lot where the temple was suspected to be.

Very carefully, the team dug into the ground until they found two adjoining walls. More digging unearthed what Boin believes to be the inside walls of the temple. This temple immediately became what Boin calls the largest evidence ever of the Imperial Cult in both fourth-century Italy and the late Roman Empire..

“There’s evidence from other places throughout the Roman world that Christian rulers supported imperial cult practices,” Boin said. “We’ve known that pagans worshiped at their temples in the fourth century, but those findings have all been small and inconsequential. And we’ve known that Christians supported the imperial cult, and we’ve known that without any sense of where it would have happened. This temple bridges those two landmarks, and in that respect, it is unlike any temple that I know about from the Mediterranean world of the fourth century Roman Empire. Any study of the imperial cult in the fourth century Roman Empire is now going to have to take account of this temple, which is an incredible discovery to make.”

With the discovery, Boin now can show how the societal changes of the time moved very slowly. Though Constantine was the first Roman emperor to famously convert to Christianity, it would take almost 70 years for Christianity to become the official religion of the Roman Empire, under the Emperor Theodosius. During that time it still took many convincing and gradual shifts for those who worshiped pagan gods to convert to Christianity.

“This changes everything about how we perceive the pace of social change and our impression of the impact of social and cultural change,” Boin said. “This building, in a very radical way on its own, shows us the staying power of the pagan traditions that had been on the ground for centuries prior to the rise of Christianity, and it shows us how the Roman emperors continued to negotiate their own values, their own hopes and dreams for the future of the emperor and the Empire without knocking down or burying the past.”

Boin and his team will return to Spello next summer to completely excavate the area to examine the full temple, where he hopes to make even more significant discoveries.

“We are on the cusp of giving people a very visible piece of evidence that really upends the neat and tidy ways people think about big moments of cultural change,” Boin said “Cultural changes are never as big as we think they are when living through them, and there’s a lot of gray area in between people’s customs and the broader society and culture. And a lot of those can be left out of the story. So to have this temple potentially be a temple dedicated to Constantice’s divine ancestors as a way to worship the emperor in an increasingly Christian world at the time, it’s so weird and I love that we can bring it to light.”

A research team led by Professor Jonghun Kam and PhD candidate Kwang-Hun Lee from the Division of Environmental Science and Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), has implemented an advanced technique employing an uncrewed surface vehicle to concurrently assess the reservoir water depths and nitrate (NO₃^–) concentrations from the reservoir water surface. The findings from their research were featured in Water Resources Research, an international journal dedicated to the water environment.

Monitoring available water quantity and quality uses indicators such as water depth and nitrate concentration. Nitrates, originating from atmospheric and soil nutrients, enter streams through various pathways, posing a potential threat to aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity when their levels become excessive. Fluctuation of precipitation and water usage further impact water quality, and rising water temperatures contribute to decreased dissolved oxygen, resulting in diminished water quality.

Effective management of water resources requires the dual monitoring of nitrate concentration and water depth. However, these measurements can vary significantly based on the timing and location of assessment. Traditional water depth measurement, typically taken at a single point, introduces uncertainty in estimating the total reservoir water volume. In recent times, uncrewed devices or instruments have been introduced to address this challenge, yet simultaneous measurement of nitrate concentration and water depth has proven challenging.

The research team has achieved the simultaneous measurement of nitrate concentration and water depth using an uncrewed surface vehicle. Over the course of a year, starting in 2021, an uncrewed boat equipped with electrochemical sensors and acoustic doppler current profile sensors was employed to gauge nitrate concentration and water depth in a reservoir (Daljeonji) in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea. The 30 measurements revealed seasonal variations with nitrate levels ranging from 1 ton to 4 tons. Following intense rainfall, the observed nitrate amount was up to 17% lower than previous readings due to rapid water expansion. This underscores the importance of considering timing and weather conditions in water quality assessments, as measurements may lead to over- or underestimation.

Furthermore, the team successfully generated a high-resolution map illustrating the cumulative nitrate content in Daljeonji Reservior based on data collected by the uncrewed surface vehicle. Despite a one-year measurement period and the study’s confinement to Pohang, its significance lies in the independent development of technology capable of simultaneous measurement of nitrate concentration and water depth.

Professor Jonghun Kam who led the research explained, “Our study has outlined both the possibilities and constraints of employing uncrewed robotics in water environment research.” He added, “It is envisioned that this research will provide a guiding framework for the development of the next generation of the Korean national water resources management system, leveraging advanced technologies like uncrewed aerial vehicles to enhance prediction accuracy and optimize water management.”

The study was conducted with the support from the Group Research in Science and Engineering Program and the Ocean, Land, and Atmosphere Carbon Cycle System Research Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea (2021M3I6A1086808).

According to research conducted by a team of researchers including Professor Kitack Lee from the Division of Environmental Science & Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), and Professor Tongsup Lee and So-Yun Kim from the Department of Oceanography at Pusan National University, the cold atmosphere in the Arctic is influencing the absorption of carbon dioxide by the East Sea. The research findings were published in Geophysical Research Letters, an international journal by the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

The research team investigated the correlation between the East Sea’s surface-deep circulation and its carbon dioxide absorption capacity, drawing insights from observations in 1992, 1999, 2007, and 2019. During the initial period (1992-1999), the ocean absorbed 20 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. In the subsequent period (1999-2007), this amount decreased to under 10 million tons per year. However, in the final period (2007-2019), the carbon dioxide uptake surged to 30 million tons per year.

The team observed that the internal circulation along the East Coast within the East Sea was influenced by the Arctic cold wave. Cold air from the Arctic infiltrates the East Sea, causing the surface water, laden with carbon dioxide, to become denser. This process induces vertical ventilation as the water descends into the middle and deep ocean layers. Consequently, the intensified descent of cold air from the Arctic strengthens the internal circulation, leading to a heightened uptake of carbon dioxide in the East Sea.

Professor Kitack Lee who led the research remarked, ” The oceans represent an immense reservoir of carbon dioxide and offer a secure and sustainable avenue for mitigating atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.” He further stated, “It is crucial to anticipate the global ocean’s capacity for carbon removal as we navigate future climate changes and identify suitable methods to leverage this potential.”

In a related development, the team’s earlier research uncovered the mechanism through which the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide. Approximately half of the carbon dioxide generated by human activities remains in the atmosphere with the other half entering marine and terrestrial ecosystems. With a carbon content 400,000 times greater than that of the atmosphere, the oceans present vast and promising potential for storing carbon dioxide.

The research was sponsored by the Ocean, Land, and Atmosphere Carbon Cycle System Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea and a research contract program of the National Institute of Fisheries Sciences of Korea.

Insulin sensitivity is how responsive cells are to insulin, an essential hormone that controls blood glucose levels. An increase in insulin sensitivity means insulin can more effectively lower the blood glucose. Reduced insulin sensitivity or insulin resistance is a feature of Type 2 diabetes. Thus, improved insulin sensitivity can reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes or improve its treatment.

GLP-1R agonists are medications that influence metabolism, such as decreasing blood sugar levels by promoting insulin secretion. Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors block the degradation of the body’s own endogenous GLP-1, as well as other peptide hormones such as glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP).

“We know that GLP-1R agonists promote weight loss, but we were surprised to find that the GLP-1R agonist liraglutide also has rapid effects on insulin sensitivity, independent from weight loss,” said Mona Mashayekhi MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism. “This effect requires activation of the GLP-1 receptor, but increasing the body’s own endogenous GLP-1 through the use of the DPP4 inhibitor sitagliptin does not achieve similar effects.”

“Our research suggests that liraglutide, and presumably other GLP-1R agonists, are having important metabolic effects in a way that’s different from increasing endogenous GLP-1 levels, even though they’re using the same receptor. Future research will focus on potential mechanisms of how GLP-1R agonists are improving insulin sensitivity independent of weight loss.”

Eighty-eight individuals with obesity and pre-diabetes were randomized for 14 weeks to receive the GLP-1R agonist liraglutide, the dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitor sitagliptin, or weight loss without drug using a low-calorie diet.

To further investigate the GLP-1R-dependent effects of the treatments, the GLP-1R antagonist exendin and a placebo were given in a two-by-two crossover study during mixed meal tests. Crossover studies allow the response of a subject to treatment A to be compared with the same subject’s response to treatment B.

Liraglutide was shown to rapidly improve insulin sensitivity as well as decrease blood glucose within two weeks of beginning treatment and before any weight loss.

“GLP-1R agonists are an exciting class of medications, given their strong glucose-lowering effects combined with tremendous weight-loss benefits, and they have transformed how we manage diabetes and obesity in the clinic,” Mashayekhi said. “Since the number of medications in this class is rapidly expanding, a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of benefit is crucial so we can design the right drugs for the desired effects in the right patients.”

The investigators’ prior research demonstrated that liraglutide, but not sitagliptin or diet, improves measures of heart disease and inflammation. This matches the clinical findings of reduced cardiovascular disease with GLP-1R agonist treatment.

Future studies will continue to explore both receptor- and weight loss-dependent effects of GLP-1R agonists in humans.

This research was supported by the American Heart Association (17SFRN33520017), National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (5UL1TR002243), and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (T32DK007061) This work utilized the cores of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center funded by grant DK020593 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease. Novo Nordisk provided liraglutide and matching placebo.

“Despite more than a century of study on the mechanobiology of bone development, the cellular and molecular basis largely has remained a mystery,” said the study’s senior author, Joel Boerckel, PhD, an associate professor of Orthopaedic Surgery. “Here, we identify a new population of cells that are key to turning the body’s early cartilage template into bone, guided by the force-activated gene regulating proteins, YAP and TAZ.”

By combing through the genes expressed by individual cells in developing mouse limbs, through single-cell sequencing, Boerckel and the study’s first author, former Penn Bioengineering doctoral student Joseph Collins, PhD, along with their colleagues, found and described a class of cells that they named “‘vessel-associated osteoblast precursors (VOPs),” which “invade” early cartilage alongside blood vessels. Since osteoblasts are the cells required to form (and fix) bones, these cells would essentially be the grandparents to bones, with osteoblasts being bones’ parents.

And, importantly, a pair of proteins called YAP and TAZ that are sensitive to the natural movement of the body — which the team’s previous work has shown is crucial to early bone development and regeneration — serve as guides to the VOPs, passing on signals they glean from the body’s mechanobiology.

The researchers found that YAP and TAZ help direct blood vessel integration into the cartilage, a vital aspect of bone development. They were able to demonstrate this role by first genetically removing YAP and TAZ from human cell models, which appeared to stop angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels form. Then, the researchers treated those human cell models with a special variety of protein called CXCL12, which restored YAP and TAZ and restarted normal angiogenesis.

The study is a result of a long-time collaboration with Dr. Niamh Nowlan of University College Dublin, whose laboratory focuses on how mechanical forces direct skeletal development in animal models and in human patients.

It’s also appropriate that Boerckel, Collins, and their team are using their exploration of bone development as a lens to further the understanding of mechanobiology.

“The study of bone development is the birthplace of mechanobiology,” Boerckel said. “For example, Wolff’s Law of Bone Transformation, says that trabecular — spongy — bone adapts in a manner depending on the stresses placed on it, but Julius Wolff spent more time in his 1894 book focused on bone development than on trabecular bone.”

With the information the Penn researchers gleaned from their study on both bone development and mechanobiology, they believe they can now inform some of the knowledge and, hopefully, treatment of genetic and congenital musculo-skeletal conditions. That includes brittle bone disease — in which the body doesn’t make collagen correctly, causing bones that can break easily — or arthrogryposis — a condition in which joints develop improperly due to limited fetal movement.

“We are now working on using these findings to target these cells and pathways, either by direct mechanical or pharmacologic means, to restore cellular function and proper bone development in utero, potentially preventing these types of conditions,” Boerckel said.

This research was funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R01 AR073809, R01 AR074948, P30AR069619, NSF CMMI 1548571) and the European Research Council (336306).

According to its inventors, new devices made possible by this innovation will benefit from dynamically adjustable fluorescent and spectroscopic properties, ease of manufacturing, and potential for scaling to areas large enough to cover vehicles, billboards and even buildings. The bio-inspired creation is the subject of a study published recently in Nature Communications.

Hapalochlaena lunulata is a species of octopus native to the Western Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. It uses a neurotoxin venom to stun its prey and can ward off predators with a flash of its blue rings. These iridescent circles on a brown background on the creature’s skin are what drew the attention of the UCI researchers.

“We are fascinated by the mechanisms underpinning the blue-ringed octopus’ ability to rapidly switch its skin markings between hidden and exposed states,” said senior co-author Alon Gorodetsky, UCI professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. “For this project, we worked to mimic the octopus’ natural abilities with devices from unique materials we synthesized in our laboratory, and the result is an octopus-inspired deception and signaling system that is straightforward to fabricate, functions for a long time when operated continuously, and can even repair itself when damaged.”

The architecture of the innovation calls for a thin film consisting of wrinkled blue rings surrounding brown circles — much like those on the octopus — sandwiched between a topmost transparent proton-conducting electrode and an underlying acrylic membrane, with another identical electrode underneath.

Further technical creativity by the researchers occurs at the molecular level as they explored the use of acenes, which are organic compounds made up of linearly fused benzene rings. Designer nonacene-like molecules (with nine linearly fused rings) used by the team help give the platform some of its outstanding capabilities, according to Gorodetsky.

“For our devices, we conceptualized and designed a nonacene-like molecule with a unique architecture,” said co-lead author Preeta Pratakshya, who recently received her Ph.D. in UCI’s Department of Chemistry. “Acenes are organic hydrocarbon molecules with a host of advantageous characteristics, including ease of synthesis, tunable electronic characteristics, and controllable optical properties.”

She added, “Our nonacene-like molecules are exceptional among acenes because they can survive years of storage in air and over a day of continuous irradiation with bright light in air. No other expanded acene displays this combined long-term stability under such harsh conditions.”

According to Gorodetsky, the type of molecules used to fabricate the colored blue ring layer are what endow the devices with their most favorable features, including adjustable spectroscopic properties, the facilitation of straightforward benchtop manufacturing and ambient-atmosphere stability under illumination.

“Our co-author Sahar Sharifzadeh, a Boston University professor of electrical and computer engineering, demonstrated that the stimuli-responsive properties of the molecules can be computationally predicted, which opens paths for the in silico design of other camouflage technologies,” Gorodetsky said.

In their laboratory tests, many of which happened in UCI’s California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, the team found that the bioinspired devices could change their visible appearance over 500 times with little or no degradation, and they also could autonomously self-repair without user intervention.

The invention was demonstrated to possess a desirable combination of capabilities in the ultraviolet, visible light, and near-infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, according to Gorodetsky. This would enable the devices to disguise other objects from detection or to clandestinely signal observers.

“The photophysical robustness and general processability of our nonacene-like molecule — and presumably its variants — opens opportunities for future investigation of these compounds within the context of traditional optoelectronic systems such as light-emitting diodes and solar cells,” added Gorodetsky.

Joining Gorodetsky and Pratakshya in this study were Chengyi Xu, Panyiming Liu, Reina Kurakake, and Robert Lopez in UCI’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering; David Josh Dibble and Anthony Burke in UCI’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Philip Denison in UCI’s Department of Chemistry; and Aliya Mukazhanova and Sharifzadeh of Boston University. The Office of Naval Research, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the National Science Foundation provided funding support.