Rmarkdown, or now Quarto, is trying to improve scientific writing by combining writing and analysis (somewhat similar to Jupyter). I really like how you can get multiple outputs (html, pdf, word, ...) and easily change formatting (like latex).

However, it is difficult to beat Word and google docs when it comes to collaborative writing, and especially collaborating with labs having another workflow. The trackdown package offers a bridge - I think this is a space with many low-hanging fruits that can really improve research efficiency if developed further