Biomaterials research has come of age, write Nature journal editors Rosamund Daw and Stefano Tonzani in their introductory Editorial (Nature 462, 425; 2009, free to access online) to the latest Insight collection, Biomaterials. Since antiquity, the editors write, humans have been taking whatever substances are at hand — natural materials, glass, metals or polymers — and using them to replace body parts that have been damaged by disease or injury. But it is only recently, with the advent of molecular biology, that the field has become interdisciplinary, enabling materials scientists to design materials that impart a specific biological function. The field of biomaterials is also broadening as we improve our understanding of how the physical sciences can help to explain biology and indeed of how biological principles, mechanisms and molecules can be applied in the design of materials for non-biological applications. The articles in this Insight (listed below) explore areas of research in which recent advances in basic biology are driving materials scientists to think differently when developing new materials.
Overview
Inspiration and application in the evolution of biomaterials
Nathaniel Huebsch & David J. Mooney
Reviews
Designing materials to direct stem-cell fate
Matthias P. Lutolf, Penney M. Gilbert & Helen M. Blau
Biomaterial systems for mechanosensing and actuation
Peter Fratzl & Friedrich G. Barth
Materials engineering for immunomodulation
Jeffrey A. Hubbell, Susan N. Thomas & Melody A. Swartz
Perspective
Drivers of biodiagnostic development
David A. Giljohann & Chad A. Mirkin