Synthetic materials capable of selectively recognizing proteins are importa
nt in separations(1), biosensors(2) and the development of biomedical mater
ials(3-5). The technique of molecular imprinting creates specific recogniti
on sites in polymers by using template molecules(6-9). Molecular recognitio
n is attributed to binding sites that complement molecules in size, shape a
nd chemical functionality(10). But attempts to imprint proteins have met wi
th only limited success(11-15). Here we report a method for imprinting surf
aces with protein-recognition sites. We use radio-frequency glow-discharge
plasma deposition to form polymeric thin films(16) around proteins coated w
ith disaccharide molecules. The disaccharides become covalently attached to
the polymer film, creating polysaccharide-like cavities that exhibit highl
y selective recognition for a variety of template proteins, including album
in, immunoglobulin G, lysozyme, ribonuclease and streptavidin, Direct imagi
ng of template recognition is achieved by patterning a surface at the micro
metre scale with imprinted regions.