Current Research and Developments on Chitin and Chitosan in Biomaterials Research 2008, Volume 1

From the Preface In recent years there have been tremendous advances in the fields of chemistry, physics and biology which have a direct impact on advances in biomaterials science. These advances have contributed significantly to the improvement of modern health care and continue to influence the practice of medicine. A biomaterial is any material, natural or man-made, that comprises whole or part of a living structure or biomedical device which performs, augments, or replaces a natural function. Among the biomaterials, chitin and chitosan have received much attention due to their non-toxicity, biodegradability, biocompatibility and multifunctional properties with applications in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences. The main driving force behind the development of new applications for chitin and its derivative chitosan lies with the fact that these polysaccharides represent a renewable source of natural biodegradable polymers. Since chitin is the second most abundant natural polymer, academic as well as industrial scientists are faced with a great challenge to find new and practical applications for this material. This book provides an examination of the state of the art, and discusses current research as well as new biomedical applications of chitin and chitosan. Applications of chitin and chitosan will be of interest to industrial personnel involved in bioprocessing as well as bioengineering students, specialists in the biomedical and biopharmaceutical industry, biochemists, food engineers, environmentalists, and microbiologists and biologists who specialize in chitosan technology.