ABSTRACT
For this book, I have chosen to take a more arbitrary and anecdotal approach to imprinting history, by tracing the development of what I have chosen to call the ‘‘New Era’’ of molecular imprinting. A more detailed historical perspective is the view taken byAndersson and Nicholls [1],who spent a great deal of time researching the early history of imprinting. I recommend their chapter to get a fascinating insight into how some of the ideas and concepts of what we now know as molecular imprinting ¢rst arose. I de¢ne this ‘‘New Era’’ as the point where research transferred from predominantly silica-based systems to synthetic organic polymers in the early 1970s. Many researchers have contributed, to a greater or lesser extent, to the development of ideas and techniques in this area, but three individuals stand out as having shaped this ‘‘New Era’’ through their pioneering workGˇnterWul¡, Ken Shea, and Klaus Mosbach (Fig. 1). Each of these individuals has made a tremendous contribution to the development of the technique. In the following pages, I will explain what they were working on and thinking about at the time, how they got involved in imprinting research and where it led them. Finally, I will present their views on the current problems and limitations of the technique and a vision of where the ¢eld might develop in the coming years.
