by Thomas Ming Swi Chang (McGill University, Canada)

This is the first book that provides a comprehensive review of the entire area of artificial cells. The author, a pioneer of the field, invented the first artificial cells some 50 years ago and has continued to carry out active research in this field. Since then, there have been explosive research activities around the world on artificial cells, especially in fields related to biotechnology, nanomedicine, cell therapy, blood substitutes, drug delivery and others. However, instead of the term “artificial cells,” many authors use other terminologies such as blood substitutes, bioencapsulation, liposomes, nanoparticles and so on. Furthermore, papers in this highly interdisciplinary area are published in numerous journals specializing in chemistry, medicine, surgery, bioengineering and others, while books in this area are mostly multi-authored, describing very specific and narrow areas. As a result, any meaningful literature search for a complete idea of the present status of the whole field of artificial cells is impossible.

This monograph is written to fill this gap by including all those areas in artificial cells that are disguised under different terminologies. Each chapter begins with a detailed overview, followed by detailed examples of the author's own research and a full description of his methods and procedures. Readers interested in a detailed overview of the whole area can read from cover to cover, omitting the methods section at the end of each chapter; while those entering this area of research will find the detailed methods and procedures very useful.