Bioactive biomaterials

The most important advances in the field of biomaterials over the past few years have been in bioactive biomaterials. Materials have been developed to incorporate bioactivity through biological recognition, including incorpor ation of adhesion factors, polyanionic sites that mimic the electrostatics of biological regulatory polysaccharides, and cleavage sites for enzymes in volved in cell migration. Materials have also been developed to be active i n biological environments by undergoing phase changes in situ, including tr ansformations from liquid precursors to solids and from soluble materials t o materials that are immobilised on tissue surfaces.