The idea for this book came from discussions among participants in a
symposium on biotechnical applications at the "Pacifichem 89" meeting in
Honolulu. It was the majority opinion of this group that a volume
dedicated to biotechnical and biomedical applications of PEG chemistry
would enhance research and development in this area. Though the book was
conceived at the Honolulu meeting, it is not a proceedings of this
symposium. Several groups who did not participate in this meeting are
repre- sented in the book, and the book incorporates much work done
after the meeting. The book does not include contributions in all
related areas to which PEG chemistry has been applied. Several invited
researchers declined to parti.: ipate, and there is not enough space in
this single volume to properly cover all submissions. Chapter I-an
overview of the topic-discusses in brief applications not given detailed
coverage in specifically devoted chapters. The following topics are
covered: introduction to and fundamental properties of PEG and
derivatives in Chapters 1-3; separations using aqueous polymer two-phase
partitioning in Chapters 4-6; PEG-proteins as catalysts in biotechnical
applications in Chapters 7 and 8; biomedical applications of
PEG-proteins in Chapters 9-13; PEG- modified surfaces for a variety of
biomedical and biotechnical applications in Chapters 14-20; and
synthesis of new PEG derivatives in Chapters 21 and 22.