The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a highly specialised network of blood vessels that effectively separates the brain environment from the circulatory system. While there are benefits, in terms of keeping pathogens from entering the brain, the BBB also complicates treatments of brain pathologies by preventing efficient delivery of macromolecular drugs to diseased brain tissue. Although current non-invasive strategies of therapeutics delivery into the brain, such as focused ultrasound and nanoparticle-mediated delivery have shown various levels of successes, they still come with risks and limitations. This review discusses the current approaches of therapeutic delivery into the brain, with a specific focus on non-invasive methods. It also discusses the potential for aptamers as alternative delivery systems and several reported aptamers with promising preliminary results.

This planet is home to countless species, some more well-known than the others. While we have developed many techniques to be able to interrogate some of the “omics”, proteomics is becoming recognized as a very important part of the puzzle, given how important the protein is as a functional part of the cell. Within human health, the proteome is fairly well-established, with numerous reagents being available to decipher cellular pathways. Recent research advancements have assisted in characterizing the proteomes of some model (non-human) species, however, in many other species, we are only just touching the surface. This review considers three main reagent classes—antibodies, aptamers, and nanobodies—as a means of continuing to investigate the proteomes of non-model species without the complications of understanding the full protein signature of a species. Considerations of ease of production, potential applications, and the necessity for producing a new reagent depending on homology are presented.

The key challenges to treating glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are the heterogeneous and complex nature of the GBM tumour microenvironment (TME) and difficulty of drug delivery across the blood–brain barrier (BBB). The TME is composed of various neuronal and immune cells, as well as non-cellular components, including metabolic products, cellular interactions, and chemical compositions, all of which play a critical role in GBM development and therapeutic resistance. In this review, we aim to unravel the complexity of the GBM TME, evaluate current therapeutics targeting this microenvironment, and lastly identify potential targets and therapeutic delivery vehicles for the treatment of GBM. Specifically, we explore the potential of aptamer-targeted delivery as a successful approach to treating brain cancers. Aptamers have emerged as promising therapeutic drug delivery vehicles with the potential to cross the BBB and deliver payloads to GBM and brain metastases. By targeting specific ligands within the TME, aptamers could potentially improve treatment outcomes and overcome the challenges associated with larger therapies such as antibodies.

Paediatric brain cancer is the second most common childhood cancer and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. Despite significant advancements in the treatment modalities and improvements in the 5-year survival rate, it leaves long-term therapy-associated side effects in paediatric patients. Addressing these impairments demands further understanding of the molecularity and heterogeneity of these brain tumours, which can be demonstrated using different animal models of paediatric brain cancer. Here we review the use of zebrafish as potential in vivo models for paediatric brain tumour modelling, as well as catalogue the currently available zebrafish models used to study paediatric brain cancer pathophysiology, and discuss key findings, the unique attributes that these models add, current challenges and therapeutic significance.

The key challenges to treating glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are the heterogenous and complex nature of the GBM tumour microenvironment (TME) and difficulty of drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The TME is composed of various neuronal and immune cells, as well as non-cellular components including metabolic products, cellular interactions, and chemical compositions, all of which play a critical role in GBM development and therapeutic resistance. In this review, we aim to unravel the complexity of the GBM TME, evaluate current therapeutics targeting this microenvironment, and lastly identify potential targets and therapeutic delivery vehicles for the treatment of GBM. Specifically, we explore the potential of aptamer-targeted delivery as a successful approach to treating brain cancers. Aptamers have emerged as promising therapeutic drug delivery vehicles with the potential to cross the BBB and deliver payloads to GBM and brain metastases. By targeting specific ligands within the TME, aptamers could potentially improve treatment outcomes and overcome the challenges associated with larger therapies such as antibodies.

Waste management presents a major environmental and public health challenge, creating an urgent need for strategies that convert discarded materials into higher-value products. Waste-derived nanoparticles (WDNPs) have gained increasing attention because they integrate waste valorization with the production of functional nanomaterials for environmental, biomedical, agricultural, packaging, sensing, catalytic and energy-related applications. This review critically evaluates WDNP synthesis from five major waste streams, including agricultural residues, animal-derived waste, plastic waste, electronic waste and industrial by-products. Across these categories, precursor composition strongly influences nanoparticle size, morphology, surface chemistry, stability and functional performance, making feedstock selection and processing conditions central to reproducible production. Evidence from recent studies indicates that WDNPs have broad functional potential across environmental remediation, biomedical delivery, antimicrobial systems, sustainable packaging, agriculture, energy storage and catalysis. However, translation beyond laboratory-scale studies remains limited by feedstock variability, limited reproducibility, complex purification requirements, potential toxicity, insufficient standardization and limited pilot-scale validation. By comparing synthesis approaches, application outcomes and translational barriers across waste categories, this review provides a critical overview of the opportunities and limitations of WDNPs and identifies the key requirements for their responsible development within a circular-economy framework.