ABSTRACT
One of the hallmarks of biological systems is their ability to change important properties in response to environmental cues. The molecular mechanisms that biological molecules utilize to sense and respond provide interesting paradigms for the development of biomaterials that display “smart” properties. There are numerous technologies in which responsive material properties have proven useful or have important potential, including controlled release/drug delivery, tissue engineering, biomedical materials, diagnostics, affinity separations, microfluidic devices, and chip/ array devices. In addition, responsive biomolecular components that reversibly exist in two distinct physical states might represent potential device elements for information storage and read/write technologies. In this chapter, we review our work on hybrid polymer-biomolecule systems that are designed to have environmentally responsive properties and function. These systems merge the impressive recognition and biofunctional properties of biomolecules, with the impressive responsiveness and chemical versatility of functional polymers.
