The focal point of the Institute of Active Polymers is multifunctional, polymer-based biomaterials for application in regenerative medicine. The vision for the future of medicine is spectacular and at the same time challenging: to regenerate diseased or injured tissues, cells, or complex organs – or at least to restore their function. Neoteric biomaterials play a central role here – especially in combination with bioactive molecules – and represent a key technology for the induction of auto-regeneration. Furthermore, they have a high use potential as carrier systems in cell therapy and tissue engineering.
The research carried out by the Institute is anchored in issues that arise from the socio-economic change happening in our society: increasing life expectancy and changes in the physical stress of everyday life lead to an increase in degenerative, chronic inflammatory and age-related diseases, whose symptoms can often only be alleviated, not remedied. The development of regenerative therapies aims at curative treatment options in which impaired functions are restored through the body's own self-healing and repair processes, or through biological replacement. Modern biomaterials enable previously unrealizable medical possibilities as implants or active substance release systems, with customized properties and functions tailored to the respective application.