Nature-Inspired Polymers

This chapter introduces the recent development of nature-inspired polymers for drug and gene delivery applications. The chapter is divided into two parts that discuss (1) carbohydrate- and (2) peptide/protein-inspired polymers. With considerable development in nanotechnology, the observable scale has been getting smaller and smaller, which has made it possible to see detailed information of structures at the nanoscale. Synthetic polymers or nanostructured materials can be thus designed to mimic natural materials by studying the nanostructures of living systems. These synthetic, nature-inspired polymers are expected to be excellent carriers for drug/gene delivery. Moreover, they can also play a key role in understanding biological processes and mechanisms.