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Heavy metal contamination in soil, which is harmful to both ecosystem and mankind, has attracted worldwide attention from the academic and industrial communities. However, the most-widely used remediation technologies such as electrochemistry, elution, and phytoremediation. suffer from either secondary pollution, long cycle time or high cost. In contrast, in situ mineralization technology shows great potential due to its universality, durability and economical efficiency. As such, the development of mineralizers with both high efficiency and low-cost is the core of in situmineralization. In 2021, the concept of ‘Super-Stable Mineralization’ was proposed for the first time by Kong et al.[1] The layered double hydroxides (denoted as LDHs), with the unique host–guest intercalated structure and multiple interactions between the host laminate and the guest anions, are considered as an ideal class of materials for super-stable mineralization. In this review, we systematically summarize the application of LDHs in the treatment of heavy metal contaminated soil from the view of: 1) the structure–activity relationship of LDHs in in situ mineralization, 2) the advantages of LDHs in mineralizing heavy metals, 3) the scale-up preparation of LDHs-based mineralizers and 4) the practical application of LDHs in treating contaminated soil. At last, we highlight the challenges and opportunities for the rational design of LDH-based mineralizer in the future.

Abstract: The natural world is teeming with color, which originates either from the wavelength-dependent absorp- tion of light by pigments or from scattering from nanoscale structures, or both. While the latter ' structural color ' has been a topic of intense study in recent years, the most vibrant colors in nature involve contributions from both structure and pigment. The study of structure–pigment interactions in biological systems is currently in its infancy and could inspire more technological applications, such as sustainable, toxin-free pigments and more efficient light harvesting.

The objective of molecular systems engineering is to move beyond functional components and primary systems, towards cumulate emergent properties in interfaced higher-order systems of unprecedented multifunctionality and sophistication.

The simplicity of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology has been transformative in making targeted genome editing accessible for laboratories around the world. However, due to the sheer volume of literature generated in the past five years, determining the best format and delivery method of CRISPR/Cas9 components can be challenging. Here, we provide a brief overview of the progress that has been made in the ex vivo genome editing of mammalian cells and summarize the key advances made for improving efficiency and delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 in DNA, RNA, and protein form. In particular, we highlight the delivery of Cas9 components to human cells for advanced genome editing applications such as large gene insertion.