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Frontiers in magnetic materials
BOOKS & MEDIA UPDATE Bio-Based Polymers and Composites
Tissues feel the force
Richard Wool and X. Susan Sun Academic Press (2005), 517 pp. ISBN: 0-12-763952-7 $99.95 / £59.99
This is the first book to describe the use of crop plants to make highperformance plastics, adhesives, and composites. It presents the challenges in the sustainable development of green, bio-based materials. Biotechnology, growth, processing, and use of plants are discussed, as well as fundamental issues for the mass production of low-cost, sustainable products for uses in housing, construction, defense, automotive, sports, and textiles applications.
Handbook of Microscopy for Nanotechnology Nan Yao and Zhong L. Wang (eds.) Springer (2005), 742 pp. ISBN: 1-4020-8003-4 $249 / £146 / 189.95
Nanostructured materials have a rich variety of properties and promise advances in micromechanical, electronic, and magnetic devices, as well as molecular fabrication. Structure-composition-processingproperty relationships can only be understood using an array of modern microscopy and analysis tools. This complete reference provides a thorough treatment of these techniques and their applications.
Frontiers in Magnetic Materials Anant V. Narlikar (ed.) Springer (2005), 800 pp. ISBN: 3-540-24512-X $299 / £191.50 / 249
In 24 chapters written by renowned experts, this book focuses on current achievements and advances in magnetic materials, including developments in high-Tc superconductivity, nanotechnology, and refined experimental techniques. The book should be of interest to both physicists and materials sciencists.
Expert Graduate Undergraduate
A book on engineering tissues with a biomechanical function should be useful for those starting a PhD or already working in the field, says Sheila MacNeil. Stemming from a workshop, Functional Tissue Engineering is a useful compilation of research by contributors involved in developing tissues with a biomechanical function, namely cartilage, bone, tendon, heart and skeletal muscle, and blood vessels. It is not easy to extract a decent book from a conference, but the editors have done a very good job in organizing the contributions to provide answers to the many challenges that are yet to be fully mastered. The thirty chapters are organised into seven sections: functional properties of natural tissues; functional requirements of engineered tissues; design parameters; assessment of function; cell-matrix interactions; bioreactors and the role of biophysical stimuli; and regulatory and clinical issues. The book provides a benchmark of where functional tissue engineering has reached early in this century. While I would not recommend this for an undergraduate text, it will be an invaluable source for those starting a PhD and others working in the field who wish to get a reasonably up-to-date view of how others view the key issues and problems. Its major strength is in covering research in engineering cartilage (seven chapters), cardiovascular tissue (four), skeletal muscle (three), ligaments and tendon (three), blood vessels (three), and bone (two). As well as chapters that focus on defining functional demands and design parameters for these tissues before looking at challenges in making tissue in vitro appropriate for clinical use, the book covers general issues essential for understanding the requirements of tissue engineering. For example, there is a very useful scene-setting first chapter on how nature builds tissues. Design parameters for developing constructs for biomechanical roles are considered and noninvasive assessment of tissue-engineered bone is touched on, albeit briefly in just one chapter. In contrast, I particularly recommend the chapters on cell-matrix interactions, in which some of the complexities of how cells respond to mechanical signals are summarized beautifully. It is no surprise that this area is not fully understood, despite a reasonable amount of work in it. The idea that cells produce extracellular matrix
proteins that link through integrins (with just low specificity) to moderation of the cytoskeleton and transmission of force is well accepted in principle. However, the complexities of how this is organized will occupy scientists for many years. For example, cells on scaffolds coated with different matrix proteins will respond differently to the same biomechanical stress. Different scaffolds will induce cells to produce different extracellular matrix proteins. Equally, it is well accepted that it may be unrealistic to produce three-dimensional constructs in the lab that are expected to assume a biomechanical role in the body without prior warning. So, developing tissues within bioreactors, where mechanical and cyclical forces can be introduced, needs significant development. Finally, there are chapters summarizing how to develop materials from concept to clinic, looking at preclinical evaluation of constructs, then how the US Food and Drug Administration carries out its remit for safety and efficacy of tissue-engineered products as they move from research to commercialization. Although this is not a textbook, I recommend it to those embarking on or already involved in engineering structural tissues. The chapters are well written, and have a fair amount of black and white illustrations. The book is clearly Farshid Guilak, et al., (eds.) Functional Tissue Engineering (2004) Springer, 426 pp., ISBN: 0-387-22013-5 $69.95 / £54 / 69.95
focused to encompass practical issues, such as the need to create appropriate biomechanical environments to stimulate tissues, and points out how our understanding of how cells respond to biomechanical forces at a cellular and tissue level must advance if we are to respond to the challenge of producing structural tissues. The contributors also convey the excitement of working in this clinically relevant area, which has so much to offer in treating some problems of human medicine that cannot adequately be addressed with conventional strategies. Sheila MacNeil is professor of tissue engineering at the University of Sheffield, UK.
July/August 2005
63
Tissues feel the force
Richard Wool and X. Susan Sun Academic Press (2005), 517 pp. ISBN: 0-12-763952-7 $99.95 / £59.99
This is the first book to describe the use of crop plants to make highperformance plastics, adhesives, and composites. It presents the challenges in the sustainable development of green, bio-based materials. Biotechnology, growth, processing, and use of plants are discussed, as well as fundamental issues for the mass production of low-cost, sustainable products for uses in housing, construction, defense, automotive, sports, and textiles applications.
Handbook of Microscopy for Nanotechnology Nan Yao and Zhong L. Wang (eds.) Springer (2005), 742 pp. ISBN: 1-4020-8003-4 $249 / £146 / 189.95
Nanostructured materials have a rich variety of properties and promise advances in micromechanical, electronic, and magnetic devices, as well as molecular fabrication. Structure-composition-processingproperty relationships can only be understood using an array of modern microscopy and analysis tools. This complete reference provides a thorough treatment of these techniques and their applications.
Frontiers in Magnetic Materials Anant V. Narlikar (ed.) Springer (2005), 800 pp. ISBN: 3-540-24512-X $299 / £191.50 / 249
In 24 chapters written by renowned experts, this book focuses on current achievements and advances in magnetic materials, including developments in high-Tc superconductivity, nanotechnology, and refined experimental techniques. The book should be of interest to both physicists and materials sciencists.
Expert Graduate Undergraduate
A book on engineering tissues with a biomechanical function should be useful for those starting a PhD or already working in the field, says Sheila MacNeil. Stemming from a workshop, Functional Tissue Engineering is a useful compilation of research by contributors involved in developing tissues with a biomechanical function, namely cartilage, bone, tendon, heart and skeletal muscle, and blood vessels. It is not easy to extract a decent book from a conference, but the editors have done a very good job in organizing the contributions to provide answers to the many challenges that are yet to be fully mastered. The thirty chapters are organised into seven sections: functional properties of natural tissues; functional requirements of engineered tissues; design parameters; assessment of function; cell-matrix interactions; bioreactors and the role of biophysical stimuli; and regulatory and clinical issues. The book provides a benchmark of where functional tissue engineering has reached early in this century. While I would not recommend this for an undergraduate text, it will be an invaluable source for those starting a PhD and others working in the field who wish to get a reasonably up-to-date view of how others view the key issues and problems. Its major strength is in covering research in engineering cartilage (seven chapters), cardiovascular tissue (four), skeletal muscle (three), ligaments and tendon (three), blood vessels (three), and bone (two). As well as chapters that focus on defining functional demands and design parameters for these tissues before looking at challenges in making tissue in vitro appropriate for clinical use, the book covers general issues essential for understanding the requirements of tissue engineering. For example, there is a very useful scene-setting first chapter on how nature builds tissues. Design parameters for developing constructs for biomechanical roles are considered and noninvasive assessment of tissue-engineered bone is touched on, albeit briefly in just one chapter. In contrast, I particularly recommend the chapters on cell-matrix interactions, in which some of the complexities of how cells respond to mechanical signals are summarized beautifully. It is no surprise that this area is not fully understood, despite a reasonable amount of work in it. The idea that cells produce extracellular matrix
proteins that link through integrins (with just low specificity) to moderation of the cytoskeleton and transmission of force is well accepted in principle. However, the complexities of how this is organized will occupy scientists for many years. For example, cells on scaffolds coated with different matrix proteins will respond differently to the same biomechanical stress. Different scaffolds will induce cells to produce different extracellular matrix proteins. Equally, it is well accepted that it may be unrealistic to produce three-dimensional constructs in the lab that are expected to assume a biomechanical role in the body without prior warning. So, developing tissues within bioreactors, where mechanical and cyclical forces can be introduced, needs significant development. Finally, there are chapters summarizing how to develop materials from concept to clinic, looking at preclinical evaluation of constructs, then how the US Food and Drug Administration carries out its remit for safety and efficacy of tissue-engineered products as they move from research to commercialization. Although this is not a textbook, I recommend it to those embarking on or already involved in engineering structural tissues. The chapters are well written, and have a fair amount of black and white illustrations. The book is clearly Farshid Guilak, et al., (eds.) Functional Tissue Engineering (2004) Springer, 426 pp., ISBN: 0-387-22013-5 $69.95 / £54 / 69.95
focused to encompass practical issues, such as the need to create appropriate biomechanical environments to stimulate tissues, and points out how our understanding of how cells respond to biomechanical forces at a cellular and tissue level must advance if we are to respond to the challenge of producing structural tissues. The contributors also convey the excitement of working in this clinically relevant area, which has so much to offer in treating some problems of human medicine that cannot adequately be addressed with conventional strategies. Sheila MacNeil is professor of tissue engineering at the University of Sheffield, UK.
July/August 2005
63