In their Nobel lectures, Physiology or Medicine Laureates J. B. Gurdon and S. Yamanaka discuss deprogramming common somatic cells to stem cells and reprogramming techniques for the generation of induced pluripotent cells, respectively. C. A. Mirkin et al. review the benefits of plasmon-mediated synthetic methods for the control of growth and shape of metal nanostructures. In a further Review, C. M. Niemeyer et al. showcase how living and artificial systems can be interfaced in, for example, modern prosthetics, brain–machine interfaces and organism/machine hybrids. In a Minireview, A. Corma et al. summarize research on organic structure-directing agents for zeolite synthesis. The Highlights deal with the green-fluorescent combination of the protein UnaG with bilirubin (J. Broichhagen and D. Trauner) and radical oxidative catalytic coupling reactions (M. Beller et al.).
In an Essay, C. Hirschi writes on the organization of innovation as a history of obsession. How was fundamental research carried out in industrial settings in the 1920s–1960s? “Are we refereeing ourselves to death?” asks Angewandte’s outgoing Editorial Board Chairman F. Diederich as he examines the limits of the peer-review system in his Editorial.
In the Communications section, X. Chen et al. present biodegradable gold nanovesicles for photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy (see picture). D. M. Lynn et al. introduce droplet-based liquid crystal chemical sensors that can be immobilized on living cells to report toxins in their environment. Quite aptly for an issue that concludes the 125th anniversary volume of Angewandte Chemie, S. Pang et al. demonstrate “fireworks” under the guise of high-energy 3D porous metal–organic frameworks with an unprecedented heat of detonation.
