Helices are the most prevalent secondary structure in biomolecules and play vital roles in their activity. Chemists have been fascinated with mimicking this molecular conformation with synthetic materials. Research has now been devoted to the synthesis and characterization of helical materials, and to understand the design principles behind this molecular architecture. In parallel, work has been done to develop synthetic polymers for biological and medical applications. We now have access to materials with controlled size, molecular conformation, multivalency or functionality. As a result, synthetic polymers are being investigated in areas such as drug and gene delivery, tissue engineering, imaging and sensing, or as polymer therapeutics. Here, we provide a critical view of where these two fields, helical polymers and polymers for biological and medical applications, overlap. We have selected relevant polymer families and examples to illustrate the range of applications that can be targeted and the impact of the helical conformation on the performance. For each family of polymers, we briefly describe how they can be prepared, what helical conformations are observed and what parameters control helicity. We close this Review with an outlook of the challenges ahead, including the characterization of helicity through the process and the identification of biocompatibility.

螺旋是生物分子中最普遍的二级结构，在它们的活动中起着至关重要的作用。化学家一直着迷于用合成材料模仿这种分子构象。现在的研究致力于螺旋材料的合成和表征，并了解这种分子结构背后的设计原则。与此同时，已经开展了开发用于生物和医学应用的合成聚合物的工作。我们现在可以获得尺寸、分子构象、多价或功能受控的材料。因此，合成聚合物正在药物和基因传递、组织工程、成像和传感或聚合物治疗等领域进行研究。在这里，我们提供了这两个领域的批判性观点，螺旋聚合物和用于生物和医学应用的聚合物重叠。我们选择了相关的聚合物系列和示例来说明可以针对的应用范围以及螺旋构象对性能的影响。对于每一类聚合物，我们简要描述了它们的制备方法、观察到的螺旋构象以及控制螺旋度的参数。我们以对未来挑战的展望结束本次审查，包括通过该过程表征螺旋性和识别生物相容性。我们简要描述了它们的制备方法、观察到的螺旋构象以及控制螺旋度的参数。我们以对未来挑战的展望结束本次审查，包括通过该过程表征螺旋性和识别生物相容性。我们简要描述了它们的制备方法、观察到的螺旋构象以及控制螺旋度的参数。我们以对未来挑战的展望结束本次审查，包括通过该过程表征螺旋性和识别生物相容性。