The 17 papers contained in this volume review recent advances in nanotechnology in the field of medical therapeutics. Peppas (chemical and biomedical engineering, U. of Texas at Austin), Hilt (chemical and materials engineering, U. of Kentucky), and Thomas (chemical engineering, U. of Texas at Austin) have organized the contributions into sections covering "intelligent therapeutics," which involves responsive devices and drug delivery systems that can detect and respond to biological undesirables and/or release drugs, proteins, or therapeutic agents; therapeutic micro- and nanodevices; nanostructured therapeutic materials; and nanoparticulate systems in intelligent therapy, although there is often significant thematic overlap. Examples of specific topics addressed include nanoscale analysis of mucus-carrier interactions for improved drug absorption, polymeric gene delivery vectors, scientific and engineering approaches to biomimetic systems, nanostructured scaffolds for tissue engineering, star polymers and dendrimers in nanotechnology and drug delivery, and nanoparticulate structures in diabetes treatment. Distributed in the US by Taylor & Francis. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)