Natural
biopolymers have a rich history, with many uses across
the fields of healthcare and medicine, including formulations for
wound dressings, surgical implants, tissue culture substrates, and
drug delivery vehicles. Yet, synthetic-based materials have been more
successful in translation due to precise control and regulation achievable
during manufacturing. However, there is a renewed interest in natural
biopolymers, which offer a diverse landscape of architecture, sustainable
sourcing, functional groups, and properties that synthetic counterparts
cannot fully replicate as processing and sourcing of these materials
has improved. Proteins and polysaccharides derived from various sources
(crustaceans, plants, insects, etc.) are highlighted in this review.
We discuss the common types of polysaccharide and protein biopolymers
used in healthcare and medicine, highlighting methods and strategies
to alter structures and intra- and interchain interactions to engineer
specific functions, products, or materials. We focus on biopolymers
obtained from natural, nonmammalian sources, including silk fibroins,
alginates, chitosans, chitins, mucins, keratins, and resilins, while
discussing strategies to improve upon their innate properties and
sourcing standardization to expand their clinical uses and relevance.
Emphasis will be placed on methods that preserve the structural integrity
and native biological functions of the biopolymers and their makers.
We will conclude by discussing the untapped potential of new technologies
to manipulate native biopolymers while controlling their secondary
and tertiary structures, offering a perspective on advancing biopolymer
utility in novel applications within biomedical engineering, advanced
manufacturing, and tissue engineering.
