“…As one of the techniques that meet these requirements, molecular imprinting (MI) allows the formation of recognizable binding sites in a polymer matrix through crosslinking in the presence of a target material (template) to be recognized. Owing to the advantages of MI such as easy manufacturing, ease of mass production, and breadth of functional material selection, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are widely utilized in a variety of fields, including separation science, − drug delivery, , and sensors. − However, the imprints of large biomolecules such as peptides, proteins, and cells face limitations owing to their large size, chemical and structural complexity, and environmental instability . To overcome these limitations, various molecular imprinting strategies have been employed, including nanoparticles, , nano/microstructures, , epitopes, − and surface imprinting. , Several molecular imprinting studies ,− that have recently been conducted used water-soluble monomers similar or identical to the initially proposed acrylate and acrylamide-based monomers for protein imprinting. , Concerning MIP-related studies for MEL selective recognition, only water-soluble monomers were used following the initially proposed strategies. , However, such MIP-based hydrogels exhibited low mechanical properties because of the functional damage of imprinted cavities during template removal in harsh environmental conditions.…”