title: Feature issue introduction: biophotonic materials and applications.
abstract: Biophotonics can be defined as the interplay of light and biological matter. The percolation of new optical technology into the realm of biology has literally shed new light into the inner workings of biological systems. This has revealed new applications for optics in biology. In a parallel trend, biomolecules have been investigated for their optical applications. Materials are playing a central role in the development of biophotonics. New materials, fabrication methods, and structures are enabling new biosensors, contrast agents, imaging strategies, and assay methods. Similarly, biologic materials themselves can be used in photonic devices. In this context, two open-access, rapid-publication journals from The Optical Society of America (OSA), Optical Materials Express and Biomedical Optics Express, will publish a joint feature issue covering advances in biophotonics materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Advanced Materials, Hannam University, Daejeon 305-811, South Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang-Sup
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Université Lyon, Ens de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5182, Université Lyon 1, Laboratoire de Chimie, F69342, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Andraud
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamada
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sokolov
authors.affiliation: Center for Engineering in Medicine, Massachussets General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Kotz
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5G 1L7, Canada.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zheng
keywords: (060.2370) Fiber optics sensors; (160.1435) Biomaterials; (170.0170) Medical optics and biotechnology; (220.4000) Microstructure fabrication; (250.5403) Plasmonics; (280.1415) Biological sensing and sensors