The Importance of Nanotechnology in Biomedical Sciences

Patients today are seeking better health care, while healthcare providers and insurance companies are calling for cost-effective diagnosis and treatments. The biomedical industry thus faces the challenge of developing devices and materials that offer benefits to both patients and the healthcare industry. The combination of biology and nanotechnology, is expected to revolutionize biomedical research by exploiting novel phenomena and properties (physical chemical and biological) of material present at nanometer length (10-9m) scale and systems through control of matter on the nm scale and the direct application of nanomaterials to biological targets. Today, nanomaterials have been designed for a variety of biomedical and biotechnological applications, including biosensors, enzyme encapsulation; neuronal nanotechnology is based on the introduction of novel nano-materials which can result in revolutionary new structures and devices using extremely biological sophisticated tools to precisely position molecules. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) and functionalized fullerenes Bucky balls with bio-recognition properties provide tools at a scale, which offers a tremendous opportunity to study biochemical processes and to manipulate living cells at the single molecule level.