Róbert Langer

The loss or failure of an organ or tissue is one of the most frequent, devastating, and costly problems in human health care. A new field, tissue engineering, applies the principles of biology and engineering to the development of functional substitutes for damaged tissue. This article discusses the foundations and challenges of this interdisciplinary field and its attempts to provide solutions to tissue creation and repair.

Abstract Hydrophilic polymers are the center of research emphasis in nanotechnology because of their perceived “intelligence”. They can be used as thin films, scaffolds, or nanoparticles in a wide range of biomedical and biological applications. Here we highlight recent developments in engineering uncrosslinked and crosslinked hydrophilic polymers for these applications. Natural, biohybrid, and synthetic hydrophilic polymers and hydrogels are analyzed and their thermodynamic responses are discussed. In addition, examples of the use of hydrogels for various therapeutic applications are given. We show how such systems' intelligent behavior can be used in sensors, microarrays, and imaging. Finally, we outline challenges for the future in integrating hydrogels into biomedical applications.