title: Molecular Imprinting Applications in Forensic Science.
abstract: Producing molecular imprinting-based materials has received increasing attention due to recognition selectivity, stability, cast effectiveness, and ease of production in various forms for a wide range of applications. The molecular imprinting technique has a variety of applications in the areas of the food industry, environmental monitoring, and medicine for diverse purposes like sample pretreatment, sensing, and separation/purification. A versatile usage, stability and recognition capabilities also make them perfect candidates for use in forensic sciences. Forensic science is a demanding area and there is a growing interest in molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) in this field. In this review, recent molecular imprinting applications in the related areas of forensic sciences are discussed while considering the literature of last two decades. Not only direct forensic applications but also studies of possible forensic value were taken into account like illicit drugs, banned sport drugs, effective toxins and chemical warfare agents in a review of over 100 articles. The literature was classified according to targets, material shapes, production strategies, detection method, and instrumentation. We aimed to summarize the current applications of MIPs in forensic science and put forth a projection of their potential uses as promising alternatives for benchmark competitors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Aksaray University, 68100 Aksaray, Turkey. yilmazerkut@yandex.com.
authors.forename: Erkut
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Bogazici University, 34684 Istanbul, Turkey. bgaripcan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Garipcan
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linkoping University, 58225 Linköping, Sweden. hirak.kumar.patra@liu.se.
authors.forename: Hirak K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Patra
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Hacettepe University, 06381 Ankara, Turkey. lokman@hacettepe.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Lokman
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Uzun
mesh_terms: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D044707:Forensic Sciences; D006801:Humans; D054802:Molecular Imprinting; D011108:Polymers
chemical_list: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D011108:Polymers
keywords: analytical methods; forensic science; molecular imprinting; pre-concentration; toxicology