Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Biomaterials that interface with biological systems are used to deliver drugs safely and efficiently; to prevent, detect, and treat disease; to assist the body as it heals; and to engineer functional tissues outside of the body for organ replacement. The field has evolved beyond selecting materials that were originally designed for other applications with a primary focus on properties that enabled restoration of function and mitigation of acute pathology. Biomaterials are now designed rationally with controlled structure and dynamic functionality to integrate with biological complexity and perform tailored, high-level functions in the body. The transition has been from permissive to promoting biomaterials that are no longer bioinert but bioactive. This perspective surveys recent developments in the field of polymeric and soft biomaterials with a specific emphasis on advances in nano- to macroscale control, static to dynamic functionality, and biocomplex materials.
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Medicine
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Division of Materials Research
Awards: Engineering Developmental Microenvironments: Cartilage Formation and Maturation, G2033298383, Localized Targeting of Matrix Proteases Following Myocardial Infarction, G3312738694, G5154533385, Spatiotemporal Regulated Click Hydrogels for 3D Cell Culture, G9000185716, G9000325396, Dynamic Acellular Materials for Repairing Dense Connective Tissues
OpenAlex ID: W2173114035