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Nature Materials 8, 370–372 (1 May 2009) | doi:10.1038/nmat2434

Hydrogels: Gene jelly

Kersten S. Rabe & Christof M. Niemeyer

Although today's polymers are abundant in commercial products and indispensable in everyone's life, research efforts to improve material properties further and thus widen the scope of applications has never abated. Biopolymers — polymeric materials produced by living organisms — are of particular interest.