Abstract: Ferritin is widely present in various organisms and is responsible for storing excess iron to maintain iron balance in vivo. Due to its inherent targeting ability, natural cavity structure, reversible self-assembly, high biocompatibility, and easy modification, ferritin is considered to be an ideal delivery system, which is widely used in many fields. This review summarizes the biological characteristics, functionalization, drug loading strategies, research progress and application prospects of ferritin-based nanocarrier systems in biomedical fields, such as drug delivery, biocatalysis, photodynamic therapy, medical imaging and vaccine research, aiming to provide some reference for related biomedical research based on ferritin delivery systems.