Nanotechnology in Medicine and Molecular Biology

In recent times, medical and molecular biology research communities have exploited the unique properties of nano-materials for various applications (e.g., contrast agents for cell imaging and therapeutics for treating cancer). Terms such as biomedicalnano-technology, nano-biotechnology, and nano-medicine are used to describe this hybrid field. Applications of nano-technology to medicine and biology imply materials and devices designed to interact with thebody at sub-cellular (i.e., molecular) scales with a high degree of specificity. This can be potentially translated into targeted cellular and tissue-specific clinical applications designed to achieve maximal therapeutic efficacy with minimal side effects. Nano-technology being a multidisciplinary field that covers a vast and diverse array of devices derived from engineering, physics, chemistry, and biology. The burgeoning new field of nano-technology, opened up by rapid advances in science and technology, creates myriad new opportunities for advancing biology, medical science and disease treatment in human health care. Applications of nano-materials to medicine and/or molecular biology are presented in this manuscript.