Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method of encapsulating biological material in a 3-dimensional hydrogel matrix, said method comprising:providing a hydrogel precursor solution, said solution comprising a hydrogel precursor compound, said biological material, and a divalent cation selected from the group consisting of calcium, barium, strontium, and combinations thereof, dispersed or dissolved in a solvent system;combining said hydrogel precursor solution with alginate to initiate gelation of said alginate and yield core/shell microparticles, each core/shell microparticle comprising an alginate shell and a liquid core comprising said hydrogel precursor solution;crosslinking said hydrogel precursor compound in said liquid core to yield core/shell crosslinked microparticles, each core/shell crosslinked microparticle comprising said alginate shell and a core comprising a 3-dimensional hydrogel matrix and said biological material, said biological material being entrapped in said hydrogel matrix; andremoving said alginate shell to yield self-sustaining hydrogel microbeads, each hydrogel microbead comprising said 3-dimensional hydrogel matrix and biological material entrapped therein. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said hydrogel precursor compound is a non-alginate compound. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said hydrogel precursor compound is hyaluronic acid. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said hydrogel precursor solution further comprises fibronectin, laminin, collagen, extracellular matrix components, or synthetic versions thereof. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said biological material is selected from the group consisting of populations of cells, cell clusters, tissues, combinations thereof, and fragments thereof. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein, said biological material is selected from the group consisting of islets, hepatocytes, stem cells, endocrine cells, tissues related to islets, hepatocytes, stem cells, endocrine cells, and islet clusters, hepatocyte clusters, stem cell clusters, thyroid clusters, adrenal gland clusters, pituitary clusters, and combinations thereof. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said hydrogel precursor solution consists essentially said hydrogel precursor compound, divalent cation, and biological material, dispersed or dissolved in the solvent system. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein said hydrogel precursor solution further comprises an optional hydrogel crosslinking agent. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said alginate is sodium alginate. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said combining comprises adding said hydrogel precursor solution dropwise to a solution of alginate to yield said core/shell microparticles. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said adding comprises generating droplets of said hydrogel precursor solution and dropping said droplets into said solution of alginate to yield said core/shell microparticles. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said droplet has a maximum surface-to-surface dimension of less than about 5 mm. 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the ratio of viscosity of the hydrogel precursor solution to the viscosity of the alginate solution is greater than 1 at room temperature. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein said crosslinking comprises contacting said core/shell microparticles with a hydrogel matrix crosslinker. 15. The method of claim 1, wherein said crosslinking comprises exposing said core/shell microparticles to activating radiation to initiate crosslinking. 16. The method of claim 1, wherein said removing comprises contacting said core/shell, crosslinked microparticles with a chelating agent to weaken, dissolve, or disrupt said alginate shell. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein said chelating agent is selected from the group consisting of citrate, EDTA, EGTA, phosphates, and mixtures thereof. 18. The method of claim 1, wherein said removing comprises physically agitating said core/shell, crosslinked microparticles to break said alginate shell. 19. The method of claim 1, wherein said hydrogel microbead has a maximum surface-to-surface dimension of less than about 5 mm.