Molecularly Imprinted Polymers: Computational Studies to Advanced Applications

This book provides an overview of the latest technology and advances in the field of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and their diverse applications in healthcare diagnostics, food safety and quality, as well as environmental monitoring. Divided into 3 parts, the book offers an introduction to the basics of molecular imprinting and affinity materials, followed by an outline of the main sensor applications and the contribution of smart nanomaterials to molecular imprinting. The last part of the book compares MIP-based diagnostics technologies with antibody- and aptamer-based diagnostics, and discusses existing and further commercial opportunities for MIPs.

Through this book, readers will get a wide range of information from basics to advanced applications in the molecular imprinting area and discover the impact of integrated approaches such as computational studies and nanotechnology on the development of imprinting techniques for biotechnological applications covering healthcare, environmental and food safety research.

With its rich content, the book is a unique contribution to the field and it holds great potential to be a reference work not only for researchers working in the field but also for the researchers who plan to design collaborative research projects to contribute to their particular field (e.g., medical scientists, medical doctors, agricultural or food engineers).

Zeynep Altintas is a Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Kiel University, and the Chair of Bioinspired Materials and Biosensor Technologies, Institute of Materials Science, Kiel University, Germany.

 From 2016 to 2022 she was the head of the Biosensors and Receptor Development Group at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, where she led an interdisciplinary research group in the domain of optical, piezoelectric and electrochemical biosensors, bioreceptor development, and molecular imprinting and modelling. With a background in biomedical engineering and biotechnology, her current research focuses on the implementation of a wide range of biosensing platforms utilized in medical diagnostics, food safety and quality, as well as environmental monitoring. She has 180+ publications in these fields, including books, journal articles, book chapters, patent applications, and conference papers. She has delivered numerous invited talks at international conferences and in world-renowned institutes. Her reputation is recognized by several international awards for her research and visiting professorships in various EU countries. She serves as an expert reviewer for the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), European Union, the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), the French National Research Agency (ANR) and Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council, and sits in editorial boards of several important journals (e.g., Sensing and Bio-sensing Research, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Micromachines, Scientific Reports, Materials, etc).