Gels and Biomedical Materials

This volume contains the proceedings of Symposia LL and MM of the 2011 MRS Fall Meeting, held November 28–December 2 in Boston, Massachusetts. 'Synthetic and Biological Gels' (Symposium LL) focused on advances made in the field and demonstrated the growing importance of these materials in a wide variety of applications. Insights were reported concerning the structural and dynamic properties of molecular and polymeric gels as well as dispersions in which the liquid component was aqueous or organic. Many of the presentations focused on potential or realised applications of gels for tissue engineering or medical interventions at the cellular or subcellular levels. 'Micro- and Nanoscale Processing of Biomedical Materials' (Symposium MM) highlighted several recent advances in the processing of microstructured and nanostructured materials for use in medical diagnosis and treatment. In addition, functional nanobiomaterials are being developed that exhibit unique interactions with proteins, DNA and other components of biological systems.