Bionanotechnology,
nanobiotechnology, and nanobiology are terms that refer to the intersection of
nanotechnology and biology. Given that the subject is one that has only emerged
very recently, bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as blanket terms
for various related technologies.
This discipline helps to
indicate the merger of biological research with various fields of
nanotechnology. Concepts that are enhanced through nanobiology include:
nanodevices, nanoparticles, and nanoscale phenomena that occurs within the
discipline of nanotechnology. This technical approach to biology allows
scientists to imagine and create systems that can be used for biological
research. Biologically inspired nanotechnology uses biological systems as the
inspirations for technologies not yet created. We can learn from eons of
evolution that have resulted in elegant systems that are naturally created.
Terminology
The terms are often used
interchangeably. When a distinction is intended, though, it is based on whether
the focus is on applying biological ideas or on studying biology with
nanotechnology. Bionanotechnology generally refers to the study of how the
goals of nanotechnology can be guided by studying how biological "machines"
work and adapting these biological motifs into improving existing
nanotechnologies or creating new ones. Nanobiotechnology, on the other hand,
refers to the ways that nanotechnology is used to create devices to study
biological systems.
In other words,
nanobiotechnology is essentially miniaturized biotechnology, whereas
bionanotechnology is a specific application of nanotechnology. For example, DNA
nanotechnology or cellular engineering would be classified as bionanotechnology
because they involve working with biomolecules on the nanoscale. Conversely,
many new medical technologies involving nanoparticles as delivery systems or as
sensors would be examples of nanobiotechnology since they involve using
nanotechnology to advance the goals of biology.
The definitions
enumerated above will be utilized whenever a distinction between nanobio and
bionano is made in this article.
Concepts
Most of the scientific
concepts in bionanotechnology are derived from other fields. Biochemical
principles that are used to understand the material properties of biological
systems are central in bionanotechnology because those same principles are to
be used to create new technologies. Material properties and applications
studied in bionanoscience include mechanical properties electrical/electronic (e.g. electromechanical
stimulation, capacitors, energy storage/batteries), optical (e.g. absorption,
luminescence, photochemistry), thermal (e.g. thermomutability, thermal
management), biological (e.g. how cells interact with nanomaterials, molecular
flaws/defects, biosensing, biological mechanisms s.a.mechanosensing),
nanoscience of disease (e.g. genetic disease, cancer, organ/tissue failure), as
well as computing (e.g. DNA computing).
Nanobiotechnology takes
most of its fundamentals from nanotechnology. Most of the devices designed for
nanobiotechnological use are directly based on other existing nanotechnologies.
Applications
Applications of
bionanotechnology are extremely widespread. Insofar as the distinction holds,
nanobiotechnology is much more commonplace in that it simply provides more
tools for the study of biology. Bionanotechnology, on the other hand, promises
to recreate biological mechanisms and pathways in a form that is useful in
other ways.
Nanobiotechnology
Nanobiotechnology
(sometimes referred to as nanobiology) is best described as helping modern
medicine progress from treating symptoms to generating cures and
regeneratingbiological tissues. Three American patients have received whole
cultured bladders with the help of doctors who use nanobiology techniques in
their practice. Also, it has been demonstrated in animal studies that a uterus
can be grown outside the body and then placed in the body in order to produce a
baby. Stem cell treatments have been used to fix diseases that are found in the
human heart and are in clinical trials in the United States. There is also
funding for research into allowing people to have new limbs without having to
resort to prosthesis. Artificial proteins might also become available to
manufacture without the need for harsh chemicals and expensive machines. It has
even been surmised that by the year 2055, computers may be made out of biochemicals
and organic salts.
Another example of
current nanobiotechnological research involves nanospheres coated with
fluorescent polymers. Researchers are seeking to design polymers whose
fluorescence is quenched when they encounter specific molecules. Different
polymers would detect different metabolites. The polymer-coated spheres could
become part of new biological assays, and the technology might someday lead to
particles which could be introduced into the human body to track down
metabolites associated with tumors and other health problems.
DNA nanotechnology is
one important exampleof bionanotechnology. The utilization of the inherent
properties of nucleic acids like DNA to create useful materials is a promising
area of modern research. Another important area of research involves taking
advantage of membrane properties to generate synthetic membranes. Protein
folding studies provide a third important avenue of research, but one that has
been largely inhibited by our inability to predict protein folding with a
sufficiently high degree of accuracy. Given the myriad uses that biological
systems have for proteins, though, research into understanding protein folding
is of high importance and could prove fruitful for bionanotechnology in the future.
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