"Trends 2026: "Boxed" bioproducts and magnetic transistors after the silicon era"

2026 begins with the feeling that science is quietly shifting the boundaries of what is possible – not with loud space missions, but with more subtle, but key technologies. In laboratories and startups around the world, three lines are maturing that could change how we treat, diagnose, and compute: cell-free biomanufacturing, new materials beyond silicon, and magnetic transistors.

Classical biotechnology relies on living cells – yeast, bacteria, cell cultures – which must be fed, maintained, and protected from contamination. Cell-free systems "extract" from the cell only the necessary enzymes and molecules and turn them into something like a miniature chemical "engine" in a test tube. This means that instead of waiting days for entire cultures to grow, we can get proteins, enzymes, or even vaccines in hours – in a standard set of components, without living organisms.

The idea of "biology from a box" is no longer science fiction. Educational kits like "BioBits" use lyophilized (freeze-dried) cell-free mixtures that can be activated only with water and a DNA template – literally a biological experiment "from a box" in the classroom or field lab. Similar concepts are being transferred to medicine: cell-free platforms allow rapid prototyping of antibodies, enzymes, and diagnostic tests without large bioreactors and complex infrastructure.

In 2025–2026, several companies and academic consortia are receiving multi-million dollar funding to turn these systems into standardized "plug-and-play" solutions – something like an "operating system" for biology. The idea is simple but ambitious: instead of each laboratory inventing the process from scratch, there will be pre-validated modules – mixtures, protocols, and software – that are combined as needed. This promises less waste, less dependence on strictly controlled premises, and easier transfer of production closer to the patient or customer.

Diagnostics will likely be the first mass "beneficiary" of cell-free technologies. Even now, such systems are used in biosensors that detect viruses, bacteria, toxins, and DNA mutations in miniature volumes – from milliliters to nanoliters. When these reactions are integrated into microfluidic chips and lyophilized for storage at room temperature, we get "boxed" tests that can be activated on-site – in a rural office, a field hospital, or even at home.

On the horizon is emerging a model where the "biofactory" is no longer necessarily a large factory, but an automated platform on the area of a desk. Automated cell-free systems, connected to liquid-handling robots and design algorithms, allow for rapid transition from a digital DNA scheme to a real product. For pharmaceutical companies, this means faster screening of drug candidates, and for health systems – the potential for local, "on-demand" production of therapies and vaccines.

As biology becomes more "programmable," electronics is looking for its next materials beyond silicon. The pressure is clear: we need chips that operate at higher frequencies, withstand more extreme temperatures, and consume less energy – especially in the era of artificial intelligence and data centers. Therefore, attention is turning to materials such as gallium nitride, silicon carbide, gallium oxide, diamond, and a whole spectrum of two-dimensional structures.

Gallium nitride and silicon carbide are already entering power electronics and charging devices, and the next wave includes even more extreme materials capable of withstanding huge voltages and temperatures. In parallel, two-dimensional materials such as graphene and molybdenum disulfide promise more flexible, thinner, and faster transistors, as well as a new type of "neuromorphic" chips that mimic the operation of the brain. This doesn't mean that silicon disappears, but its role is gradually shifting from a universal standard to a part of a richer "periodic table" of electronics.

Against this backdrop, in 2025, engineers from MIT presented a magnetic transistor that could turn out to be one of the most interesting steps "after silicon." The device uses a two-dimensional magnetic semiconductor instead of silicon and controls the flow of electricity not only through voltage, but also through magnetism. Thus, the transistor can amplify or turn off the current much more efficiently than previous magnetic solutions – a serious leap in a world where the gains from classical scaling are running out.

The real novelty is that such magnetic transistors combine logic and memory in one device – it not only "switches," but also "remembers" its state. This means the potential for chips in which there is no longer a clear division between processor and memory, and the same structure stores and processes information. For applications such as artificial intelligence, where data is constantly moving back and forth, this could lower energy consumption and allow for much more compact, "green" calculations.

Of course, magnetic transistors are still far from our smartphone or laptop. Complex engineering tasks remain to be solved – how to control the magnetic state with only electrical signals, how to integrate these materials into mass production, how to ensure stability with billions of switches. But the very fact that such devices are already working in the laboratory shows that the next big step in electronics may not only be "a smaller transistor," but a qualitatively new type of component.

The common ground between cell-free biology and new materials in electronics is the feeling that we are entering an era of more flexible, modular platforms. Instead of being limited by the "whims" of living cells or the physical limits of silicon, we are increasingly trying to design systems that work on our terms – faster, cleaner, more energy efficient. To the consumer, this may seem like another lighter charger or a more accurate home test, but behind these seemingly small conveniences lies a major rearrangement of the foundations on which modern medicine and electronics are based.