Nanotechnology and its Future Applications

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology, the term coined by Eric Drexler in the1980s, refers to the engineering of tiny devices and machines. This is a technology involving the potential ability to fabricate structures and devices with atomic precision by controlling the size of the matter at the scale of 1-10nm. It will provide the solution to a large number of problems faced by mankind today. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter (10-9), roughly the width of three or four atoms.

The Potential of Nanotechnology

The potential of nanotechnology is huge and can lead to tremendous miniaturization in wider areas like space systems, medial diagnostic equipments and drug delivery systems. It will enable us to fabricate very sensitive devices and machines, leading to the enhancement of human capabilities to work efficiently, at lowers cost, with more precision and in environmentally friendly ways. Nanotechnology will make it feasible for us to create such sophisticated devices and structures with more flexibility at nanoscale.

Areas in which nanotechnology has future applications and discoveries, which can lead to enormous economical and industrial development, is as follows:

• Macromolecular design and folding
• Self-assembly methods
• Catalysis (inorganic, enzyme and other)
• Dendrimers, fullerenes and other novel chemical structures
• Bioenergetics, nanobatteries and ultrasound-driven chemistry
• Semiconductor-organic/biological interfaces
• Miniaturization and massive parallelism of SFM
• Molecular modeling tool

Applications:

• Energy Storage, Production and Conversion:
  a) Novel hydrogen storage systems based on carbon nanotubes and other
  lightweight nanomaterials
  b) Photovoltaic cells and organic light-emitting devices based on quantum dots
  c) Carbon nanotubes in composite 0.lm coatings for solar cells
  d) Nanocatalysts for hydrogen generation
  e) Hybrid protein-polymer biomimetic membranes
• Agricultural Productivity Enrichment:
  a) Nanoporous zeolites for slow release and efficient dosage of water and
  fertilizers for plants and of nutrients and drugs for livestock
  b) Nanocapsules for herbicide delivery
  c) Nanosensors for soil quality and for plant health monitoring
  d) Nanomagnets for removal of soil contaminants
• Water Treatment and Remediation:
  a) Nanomembranes for water purification, desalination and detoxification
  b) Nanosensors for the detection of contaminants and pathogens
  c) Nanoporous zeolites, nanoporous polymers and attapulgite clays for water purification
  d) Magnetic nanoparticles for water treatment and remediation
  e) TiO 2 nanoparticles for the catalytic degradation of water pollutants
• Disease Diagnosis and Screening:
  a) Nanoliter systems (Lab-on-a-chip)
  b) Nanosensor arrays based on carbon nanotubes
  c) Quantum dots for disease diagnosis
  d) Magnetic nanoparticles as nanosensors
  e) Antibody-dendrimer conjugates for diagnosis of HIV-1 and cancer
  f) Nanowire and nanobelt nanosensors for disease diagnosis
  g) Nanoparticles as medical image enhancers
• Drug Delivery Systems:
  a)Nanocapsules, liposomes, dendrimers, buckyballs, nanobiomagnets
  and attapulgite clays for slow and sustained drug release systems
• Food Processing and Storage:
  a) Nanocomposites for plastic .lm coatings used in food packaging
  b) Antimicrobial nanoemulsions for applications used in decontamination of food equipment or packaging
  c) Nanotechnology-based antigen detecting biosensors for identification of pathogen contamination
• Air Pollution and Remediation:
  a) TiO 2 nanoparticle-based photocatalytic degradation of air pollutants in
  self-cleaning systems
  b) Nanocatalysts for more efficient, cheaper and better-controlled
  catalytic converters
  c) Nanosensors for detection of toxic materials and leaks
  d) Gas separation nanodevices
• Construction - nanomolecular structures to make asphalt and concrete more robust to counter water seepage:
  a) Heat-resistant nanomaterials to block ultraviolet and infrared radiation
  b) Nanomaterials for cheaper and durable housing, surfaces, coatings, glues, concrete and heat and light exclusion
  c) Self-cleaning surfaces (e.g. windows, mirrors, toilets) with bioactive coatings
• Health monitoring Nanotubes and nanoparticles for glucose, CO(2), and cholesterol sensors and for in-site monitoring of homeostasis:
• Vector and pest detection and control:
  a) Nanosensors for pest detection.
  b) Nanoparticles for new pesticides, insecticides and insect repellents

Nanotechnology and Cancer

Majority of animal cells are approximately 10,000 to 20,000 nanometers in width. Consequently, it would be simpler for nano tools to go into and intermingle with the cell's proteins and DNA.

Nanotechnology can be utilized to combat cancer in 2 manners. Firstly, it will be utilized in spotting the existence of cancer much sooner and with superior accuracy as compared to the regular diagnostic techniques, like X-RAYS, MRIs, and biopsies. Secondly, it will be utilized in the obliteration of the cancer, with bigger exactitude and diligence, once it is diagnosed.

Nanotechnology Cancer Treatment

Nanotechnology's supreme guarantee in medical history is its probability to obliterate cancers that up till now have been defiant to conservative cures.

Contemporary radiation and chemotherapy can be best defined as 'carpet bombing' cancer. That implies that fit cells are assaulted together with the cancer cells. The consequence is that the cancer patient undergoes severe spin-offs, together with sickness, hair fall, anemia, and the dilapidation of his/her immunology. The deficiency of accuracy inbuilt in contemporary cancer combating methods at times, implies that not the entire of a cancer is eliminated, leading to a revival of the cancer.

Nanotechnology cancer therapy on the other hand, gives the probability of a cancer combating smart method. Nano tools can be developed that can accurately transport medicines to only the cancer cells, leaving fit cells undamaged. These tools would go into the formerly distinguished cancerous cells and carry the drug or amalgamation of drugs, annihilating the cancer from its roots.

One more prospective system blends nanotechnology with an innovative type of radiation therapy. Carbon nano tubes are set up into cancerous cells. After that an infrared laser is emphasized on the impacted region. The laser warms the nano tubes, leading to the damage of the cancerous cells, leaving fit cells unharmed.

An additional method anticipated for curing cancer would entail nano computers factually redrafting the DNA of cancerous cells to transform them back into standard cells. The concept would be that these tools would inspect the DNA of cancerous cells on the minuscule level, contrasting them to what the DNA of usual cells for the cancer patient ought to be, and then calling in nano fixing devices to repair the DNA.

Summary

This implies that within the life span of majority people, cancer- the big slayer of our time, may no more be laden with the terror we see it with now. The next generation might well see cancer as we see few epidemics from history, such as chicken pox, which are a fraction of history and no more as an element of our daily life.

Nanotechnology and it's Benefits

Nanotechnology is a protective coating that enhances products of any sort of material. It can strengthen and improve the assets to benefit both manufacturers and end users. With the help of Nanotechnology, which is an applied science, new products are created to protect various materials.

Protective coating is a result of nanotechnology. It makes the materials weather resistant and the surface becomes easy to clean as well. Its protective coating exhibits very high resistance to corrosion attack, long term stability in aggressive conditions and an environmentally friendly, easy and economical preparation procedure.

Nanotechnology and its characteristics will be different in the case of each material surface and it is available with standard features and techniques. Nanotechnology uses more techniques and tools for its updating. Nanotechnology research has been made continuously to update technology using different techniques and tools available in the world. New technologies have been used to measure the molecular interactions that take place.

Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize the life of materials used in every sector be it industrial, residential, medicines, genetics, communication, textile and many more. It helps to improve products and production processes with better techniques and new functionality.

In coming years, products based on nanotechnology are expected to impact nearly all-industrial sectors and enter the consumer markets in large quantities. Considering the future prospects of nanotechnology, countries across the world are investing heavily in this sector. Diamon Fusion International is one such example that makes the optimum use of nanotechnology by providing glass protection,hydrophobic coating, protective coating to various materials depending on there characters.

Nanotechnology - Nanomedicine

Nanotechnology involves the science and technology of devices and materials, such as drug delivery systems or electronic circuits, that are created on extremely tiny scales – as small as molecules and even atoms. Nanotechnology also involves manipulation of structure matter at molecular levels, involving different fields and specialties such as chemistry, engineering, electronics, medicine and others. All of these fields of study and pursuit are concerned with bringing existing technologies down to a very tiny scale that is measured in, 'nanometers,' which is a billionth of a meter, or about the size of six carbon atoms in a row.

The processes used both today and in the past in the creation of industrial products have involved pushing piles of millions of atoms together through mixing, grinding and heating, a process that is very imprecise. Scientists are now able to pick up individual atoms and assemble them into structures, or cause particular chemical reactions. For example, propellers have been attached to molecular motors and electricity has been conducted through, 'nanowires.' 'Nanotubes,' made of carbon are being investigated for use in a variety of both research and industrial purposes. As the future approaches, the use of nanotechnology might find scientists able to harness the forces that operate at the scale of the nanometer, such as the Van Der Waals force. They may be able to harness the changes in the quantum states of particles for engineering purposes.

One of the promising aspects of nanotechnology where improvement of the quality of human life is concerned includes the potential for new treatments for disease. Tiny autonomous robots or, 'nanobots,' might one day be sent into a person's body to cure cancer or repair cells, or possibly even extend the person's life span by a number of years. At this time the simple devices that have been created by nanotechnology are not of the complexity envisioned with nanomachines and nanobots.

Nanotechnology Background

Nanotechnology has emerged from the chemical, physical, biological and engineering sciences. Novel techniques are being developed by scientists in these fields to both probe and manipulate individual atoms and molecules. The tools these scientists have developed have enabled a variety of new discoveries regarding the ways in which properties of matter are governed by the atomic and molecular arrangements at nanometer dimensions. The discoveries that have been made have had an impact on the processing of a wide-range of devices and materials. The results have been substantial improvements in existing technologies, as well as entirely new ones. Control of the design properties, materials, as well as devices at the nanoscale is possible through exploitation of strategies which are often complemented by top-down engineering approaches.

Nanotechnology-based approaches are poised to revolutionize research biology and medicine. In another example, with the significant progress in understanding the genetic basis of biochemical pathways that are involved in both injury and disease processes, there is a great need for highly-sensitive, real-time monitoring and detection technologies. Nanotechnology may be used to design diagnostic systems that are multi-functional and multi-analytic; ones that not only define early stage changes or progression of disease states, but also identify unique biological molecules, structures and chemicals. There are nanotechnologies related to imaging for metastasis, inflammation, and angiogenesis that are emerging. Nanotechnology and nanoscience are presenting new opportunities for the treatment and management of traumatic injuries and diseases. Multifunctional materials on nanoscales that capitalize on progress in proteomics and genomics are allowing targeted delivery of molecular therapies with enhanced efficacy.

Studies that use nanotechnology concepts and techniques and focus on biological processes have the potential to provide new insight into the physical relationships between cellular components and functional irregularities that trigger pathological abnormalities. Nanoscience and the technologies emerging from it offer a means of controlling the design and assembly of biomolecular processes that are very relevant to health and disease. In another example, while the processes involved in energy conversion offer a means of constructing a biomolecular machine through enzymology and structural biology have been studied for a number of years, nanotechnology and nanoscience present a means of creating a biomolecular machine that uses biological energy sources in new ways.

NanoTechnology, Nanomedicine, and the Future

Nanotechnologies, applied to the medical field, could allow doctors to search out and destroy the very first cancer cells that would otherwise have caused a tumor to develop. Nanotechnologies could remove a broken portion of a cell and replace it with a miniature biological machine, or deliver medicines exactly where and when they are needed. Nanomedicine is an offshoot of nanotechnology, and refers to highly-specific medical intervention at the molecular scale for curing diseases or repairing damaged tissues. The pursuit of nanomedicine on the part of researchers at the National Institute of Health (NIH) began several years ago, with results expected within ten years of their launch date in 2005.

Research into nanotechnology started with discoveries of unique chemical and physical properties of various carbon-based or metallic materials which only appear for structures at nanometer-sized dimensions. The ability to understand the scale of these properties allows engineers to build new structures and use the materials in new ways. The same thing is true for biological structures inside living cells within the human body. Researchers have been able to develop powerful tools to categorize the parts of cells in great detail; they are aware of a great amount of detail concerning how intracellular structures operate.

Still, scientists have not been able to answer certain questions. The questions that remain involve things such as, 'How many, ' 'how big,' and, 'how fast?' They must find the answers to these kinds of questions in order to fully understand cellular structures and gain the ability to repair them, or build new nanotechnology structures that can safely operate inside the human body. Once scientists have achieved this, they will be able to work with others to build better diagnostic tools and engineer nanoscale structures for specific treatments of diseases or tissues that have been damaged.

The NIH established a national network of eight Nanomedicine Development Centers to serve as the intellectual and technological centerpiece of the NIH Nanomedicine Roadmap Initiative. The centers are staffed by research teams that include physicians, biologists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer scientists. The initial phase of the program found the centers pursuing research aimed at gathering extensive information about the chemical and physical properties of nanoscale biological structures. Because of the catalogue the NIH has been able to create, they are gaining a greater understanding of nature's rules of biological design that will enable their researchers to correct defects in unhealthy cells. The research requires the development of new devices for a broad range of biomedical applications, such as detecting infectious agents or metabolic imbalances, with new and tiny sensors, replacing items inside of cells with new nanoscale structures, or generating miniature devices that have the capability to search for and destroy infectious agents.

The NIH is approaching phase two of the program, which has been approved. During phase two of the Nanomedicine initiative, the fundamental knowledge and developed tools they have acquired will be applied to both understanding and treatment of disease. The centers will continue their pursuit of knowledge, expanding it in regards to the science of nanostructures in living cells. They will gain the capability to engineer biological nanostructures, apply their knowledge, tools, and devices – and focus on targeting specific diseases.

Nanotechnology Fundamental Techniques

Introduction to nanotechnology manipulates the atomic properties of nanotechnology materials. Nanotechnology is the broad classification of applied science and technologies evolving around. Nanotechnology comprises of physics, material science, and applied science different disciplines. The characteristic of nanotechnology will be different and it comes up with standard features and techniques. It is designed and produced specifically to meet wide applications. It is used to control, manipulate the molecular level of the scale and it ranges with regards to the fabrication devices.

Nanotechnology in medicine has been made with regards to nanotechnology research and nanotechnology reports. Generally, Nanotechnologies have been classified under multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary field of science and technology and more nanotechnology materials have been updated constantly. It is confined has mechanical and electrical engineering. The popular nanotechnology among the customer is molecular nanotechnology which is used to operate molecular scale. The main purpose of introduction to nanotechnology is that it produces desire structure or device using principles.

Nanotechnology uses more techniques and tools for its updating. Nanotechnology includes techniques for fabrication such as deep ultraviolet lithography, electron beam lithography, atomic layer deposition, and molecular vapor deposition. With regards to nanotechnology research and nanotechnology reports, it is come to know that it is possible to measure nanostructures and it is functionality. Nanotechnology can be used for wide applications and it has been designed specifically to meet the requirement of the customers around the world. Nanotechnology is an extension of existing sciences which interprets as nano scale or as recasting of existing science using new technology research.

Nanotechnology research has been made continuously to update technology using different techniques and tools available in the world. New technologies have been used to measure the molecular interactions that take place. Two different approaches have been insisted in nanotechnology to control, assist and to manipulate the molecular level of the scales. The fabrication techniques used ranges and the applications of structures differ. The design, devices for nanotechnology used for production to control the manipulation of size and shape of the scale which produces structural and characteristic for the technology updated.

Nanotechnology uses techniques to suit for applications such as field emission, plastics, energy storage, adhesives/connectors, molecular electronics, fibers and fabrics and for other applications. More number of manufacturers is interested in manufacturing tools required for nanotechnology and they provides and update for reasonable price consideration. To use nanotechnology or its updating, more assumption has been created with regards to science and technology which results from nanotechnology research.

NANOSCIENCE AND THEIR BIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE: HUMAN HEALTH AND DISEASE

1. Introduction
Nano-science is well recognized as a revolutionary step in various field of science and a logical field of study for researchers in the coming years as it is, the study of fundamental principles of molecules and structures between one nanometer (one billionth of a meter) and 100nanometers in size. Due to the novel design and size-tunable optical properties of nano-materials .with new physico-chemical characteristics , their potential adverse impact on human health must be addressed.

Nano-materials are structurally and functionally prevalent in the organic, inorganic, and biological fields. Their unique size-dependent properties make these materials superior and indispensable in many areas of human activity. The biological application of nano-particles is a rapidly developing area of nanotechnology that raises new possibilities in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. Basically, the nano-meter length scale opens the way for the development of novel materials for use in highly advanced medical technology. As researchers are developing an ever-expanding toolkit of nano-particles for use as drug and imaging agent delivery vehicles, there is a growing need to understand how a given nano-particle's physical and chemical properties affect biological activity and toxicity. Now, various new methods have been developed for measuring the biological activity of nano-materials in a highly systematic manner that enables them to draw important insights about nano-material biologic activity.

2. Nanotechnology products

Nanotechnology has created a growing sense of excitement due to the ability to create and utilize materials, devices, and systems through the control of matter on the nanometer scale (1 to 50 nm). Current and near-future developments in medicine are of interest, because it can be projected beyond them to perceive what will be possible once inexpensive nano-scale manufacturing of highly functional products becomes a reality.Manufacturing with nanotechnology can solve many of the world's current problems.After more than twenty years of basic and applied research, nanotechnologies are gaining in commercial use. Nano-scale materials now are in electronic, cosmetics, automotive and medical products. Various investigations are continuing researches are now established in the area of nanomaterials, in which scientists use different cell lines for their assays and measured biological activity at different nano-particle doses. New concepts for regenerative medicine give hope to many patients with organ failure or severe injuries. Nano-particle reinforced polymers , orally applicable insulin , artificial
joints ] made from nano-particulate materials, and low-calorie foods with nano-particulate taste enhancers. Some products are already commercially available, such as surgical blades and suture needles, contrast-enhancing agents for magnetic resonance imaging , bone replacement materials , wound dressings , anti-microbial textiles, chips for in vitro molecular diagnostics, micro-cantilevers, and micro-needles. With the emergence of technologies to fabricate and mass-produce micro-scale tools and micro-machines, micro-surgery stands to potentially benefit through the development of a fundamentally new class of instruments. These new instruments may provide the surgeon with access to the smallest reaches of the body and perform operations that are currently not possible with manually operated tools . Nano-wires are tiny highways for electrons, transporting them quickly and efficiently through the solar cell. This analysis clearly showed that there were definite correlations between the physical and chemical properties of a nano-particle and biological activity.


3. Nanoscience and biotechnology

Nanotechnology will have an almost endless string of applications in biotechnology, biology, and biomedicine. The biotech world also has many real world applications currently in use or under development that are, or will be, affecting our quality of life. However, nanobiotechnology presents a promising research and development frontier with a tremendous future impact in the following areas:

Drug delivery: Novel therapeutic strategies include the development of targeted transport vehicles allowing drug delivery to specific cells or cell structures. Of particular interest are bioengineered nano-particles, which can be utilized as transport vehicles of diagnostic or therapeutic agents . Drugs with narrow therapeutic indexes create a major challenge for pharmaceutical scientists, during their developments. Application of nanotechnology for the delivery of such drugs can significantly overcome this problem . Nucleic acid ligands, also known as aptamers, are a class of macromolecules that are being used in several novel nanobiomedical applications, which collectively make them attractive molecules for targeting diseases or as therapeutics. These properties will enable aptamers to facilitate innovative new nanotechnologies with applications in medicine .

Magnetic nano-particles (MNPs) possess unique magnetic properties and the ability to function at the cellular and molecular level of biological interactions making them an attractive platform as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and as carriers for drug delivery. However, further development is required before nanotechnology can be applied clinically.

Gene therapy: Nanotechnology, using advanced polymers as a delivery mechanism, may revive genetic therapy as a tool for curing diseases. Problems with delivery systems for genes - often based on the use of viral vectors - have already caused researchers to pull gene therapy projects. Non-viral vectors, nano-particles, complexes between lipids, or polymers with DNA have been proposed as alternatives to viruses used to incorporate specific genes into target cells. Recent progress in nanotechnology has triggered the site specific gene delivery research and gained wide acknowledgment in contemporary DNA therapeutics . Recently the major challenge of gene therapy for researcher is to explore whether nano-particles can be delivered intravenously to attack metastatic tumour cells, which are found throughout the body in advanced stages of cancer.

Nano-biosensors/DNA nano-chips: Nano-materials are exquisitely sensitive chemical and biological sensors constructed of nano-scale components (e.g., nano-cantilevers, nano-wires, and nano-channels) can recognize genetic and molecular events and have reporting capabilities, thereby offering the potential to detect rare molecular signals associated with malignancy .

Rapid and sensitive drug screening, one of the limiting factors in combinatorial chemistry for drug discovery and development, is another important application of nano-biosensors. Because of the small dimension, most of the applications of nano-biotechnology in molecular diagnostics fall under the broad category of biochips/micro-arrays but are more correctly termed nano-chips and nano-arrays.The advancement of biotechnology has been facilitated the biotechnologist to have better understanding, characterization, and control of living cells.


4. Human health and disease
Nanotechnology is already starting to have an impact on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease, especially by enabling early disease detection and diagnosis, as well as precise and effective therapy. It approaches in surgery, cancer diagnosis and therapy, bio-detection of molecular disease markers, molecular imaging, implant technology, tissue engineering, and devices for drug, protein, gene and radionuclide delivery. While many of these medical nanotechnology applications are still in their infancy. Nano-particles or nano-structures are utilizing as novel drug delivery systems . Systemic administration of chemotherapeutic agents, in addition to its anti-tumor benefits, results in indiscriminate drug distribution and severe toxicity. This shortcoming may be overcome by targeted drug-carrying platforms that ferry the drug to the tumor site while limiting exposure to non-target tissues and organs .
The rapid and sensitive detection of pathogenic bacteria is extremely important in medical diagnosis and measures against bioterrorism. Recent advances in the field of nanotechnology led several groups to recognize the promise of recruiting nano-materials to the ongoing battle against pathogenic bacteria . Rapid, selective, and sensitive detection of viruses is crucial for implementing an effective response to viral infection, such as through medication or quarantine.
Direct, real-time electrical detection of single virus particles can be achieved with high selectivity by using nano-wire field effect transistors .


5. Nanoscience and medical research
Research in nano-medicine will allow for a better understanding of the functioning of the human body at molecular and nano-metric level and it will thus give us the possibility to intervene better at pre-symptomatic, acute or chronic stage of illnesses. Some other nanotechnology applications which are currently under development in the biotech world are diabetic insulin biocapsules, pharmaceuticals utilizing “bucky ball” technology to selectively deliver drugs, and cancer therapies using targeted radioactive bio-capsules. Molecular manufacturing will have major effects on medical research, diagnosis, and treatment.

Other diseases, including influenza, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and pneumococcal infection are being at least partially controlled by vaccines, but there is still much that needs to be done to eliminate many such diseases, even in the developed world . With very few adjuvants currently being used in marketed human vaccines, a critical need exists for novel immunopotentiators and delivery vehicles capable of eliciting humoral, cellular and mucosal immunity. Nano-particle technology is also an attractive methodology for optimizing vaccine development because design variables can be tested individually or in combination .

6. Nanoscience and medicine
In recent years there has been a rapid increase in nanotechnology applications to medicine in order to prevent and treat diseases in the human body . Nano-medicine (the application of nanotechnology to health) raises high expectations for millions of patients for better, more efficient and affordable healthcare and has the potential of delivering promising solutions to many illnesses. Nano-medicine, an offshoot of nanotechnology, refers to highly specific medical intervention at the molecular scale for curing disease or repairing damaged tissues, such as bone , muscle, nerve chronic pulmonary diseases or coronary artery disease .

Nano-crystalline silver products (Acticoat) is effective against most common strains of wound pathogens; can be used as a protective covering over skin grafts; has a broader antibiotic spectrum activity; and is toxic to keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Animal studies suggest a role for nanocrystalline silver in altering wound inflammatory events and facilitation of the early phase of wound healing . Nano-sized cosmetic or sunscreen ingredients pose no potential risk to human
health, whereas their use in sunscreens has large benefits, such as the protection of human skin against skin cancer . It gives the hope of designing new, more efficient drugs with fewer or no side effects.

The development of novel materials and devices operating at the nano-scale range, such as nano-particles, provides new and powerful tools for imaging, diagnosis and therapy. The design of multifunctional nano-particles is suggested as an alternative system for drug and gene delivery,which has great potential for therapy in areas, such as cancer and neuro-pathologies .

Nano-medicine raises high expectations for millions of patients for better, more efficient and affordable healthcare and has the potential of delivering promising solutions to many illnesses.The aim is to identify a disease at the earliest possible stage. Ideally already a single cell with ill behavior would be detected and cured or eliminated.

7. Nano-science and cancer
The biological application of nano-particles is a rapidly developing area of nanotechnology that raises new promises in the diagnosis and treatment of various cancers. They can also facilitate important advances in detection, diagnosis, and treatment of human cancers and have led to a new discipline of nano-oncology . Nano-particles offer a new method of tumour targeting, already available in clinical practice, which can concomitantly improve the efficacy and decrease the toxicity of existing or novel anticancer agents. This makes them an ideal candidate for precisely targeting cancer cells. Molecular imaging has now considered as a high area in cancer diagnosis . Early assessment of nanotechnologies is also reported by Micro-array Analysis and Photodynamic Therapy implementation, which methodology can be extrapolated to other nanotechnologies in oncology. In the near future, the use of nanotechnology could revolutionize not only oncology, but also the entire discipline of medicine.

The development of resistance to variety of chemotherapeutic agents is one of the major challenges in effective cancer treatment. Nanotechnology could enhance the precision of drugs that have one highly specialized mission, like finding and killing cancer cells or tumors. Additionally, multi-functional nano-carriers are developed to enhance drug delivery and overcome MDR by either simultaneous or sequential delivery of resistance modulators (e.g., with P-glycoprotein substrates), agents that regulate intracellular pH, agents that lower the apoptotic threshold (e.g.,with ceramide), or in combination with energy delivery (e.g., sound, heat, and light) to enhance the effectiveness of anticancer agents in refractory tumors . A recent study showed that targeting of phage nano-medicines via specific antibodies to receptors on cancer cell membranes results in 145 endocytosis, intracellular degradation, and drug release, resulting in growth inhibition of the target cells in vitro with a potentiation factor of >1000 over the corresponding free drugs. These results define targeted drug-carrying filamentous phage nano-particles as a unique type of antibody-drug conjugates .
Optically efficient, cancer specific Quantum dots provide a new tool to enable noninvasive visualization of disease-specific molecular and tissue changes with subcellular spatial resolution . Nanotechnology is in a unique position to transform cancer diagnostics and to produce a new generation of fluorescent markers and medical imaging techniques with higher sensitivity and precision of recognition.

Nanoparticles make biofuel production more efficient

Biofuel production currently involves a complex mixture of hydrophilic and hydrophobic liquids, along with one or more catalysts. Getting them all together and separating out the fuel can be a time-consuming challenge. Researchers have now used carbon nanotubes and oxidized metals to create a solid that is both hydrophilic and hydrophobic and sits between oil and alcohol layers, mediating their interactions.

Making biofuel using current methods can be a bit tedious. Recipes generally involve mixing some kind of bio-oil, often vegetable oil, with an alcohol, usually methanol, along with a catalyst such as lye. Once these have all been combined, they react to form the desired biofuel, glycerine, and some excess soap, water, and alcohol. All of these will, for the most part, separate into layers like with a vinaigrette dressing if allowed to sit for a long enough time.

The glycerine can be drained off easily enough, and most of the impurities will settle between the glycerine and biofuel, but the biofuel must be "washed" a few times to extract any errant soap particles and other impurities that are suspended in it, and boiled to remove the water. All told, the process can take between a couple of days and a week, depending on how much you're making. There are machines that will carry out the mixing and washing, but the process can't be shortened much because of the impurities that are introduced due to the use of lye as a catalyst.

Researchers set out to solve this problem by finding a catalyst that would not introduce any impurities that would be difficult to remove. They also wanted to find one that would that could stabilize an oil and water emulsion, which would help the reaction components form a stable mix, in the same way that egg yolks stabilize mayonnaise. A stabilized emulsion would significantly increase the surface area where the two substances can react—typically, this function is performed by the solid catalysts. Ideally, the newly engineered catalysts would also be reusable.

The researchers' solution involved a combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials that would both emulsify the oil/water mixture by sitting at the interface of the two substances, and facilitate their reaction to form biofuels. To accomplish this, they grew hydrophobic carbon nanotubes on small pellets of hydrophilic oxidized metals that contained enough palladium catalyst to speed up the reaction.

They found this combination helped the aqueous and organic phases emulsify, and would remain at the boundary between the two substances; the palladium facilitated the hydrogenation, hydrogenolysis, and decarbonylation reactions. Hydrogenation was the dominant reaction at around 100ºC, hydrogenolysis at 200ºC, and decarbonylation at 250ºC. Each of these reactions is useful for the conversion of different combinations of alcohols and oils, and because of the increased surface area. Thanks to the inclusion of palladium, these reactions happen at a much faster rate than when performed using lye.

Once the reactions had occurred, the authors found that all of the desired products had moved into the organic phase, or what was once just bio-oil, leaving any waste and water in the aqueous phase, where it was still bound by the catalytic nanoparticles.

To separate the catalyst and waste, they strained the liquid through a regular paper filter, which managed to catch most of the catalyst. They then passed the organic liquid through a polytetrafluoroethylene filter to catch the nanoparticles that had gotten through the paper filter, leaving them with purified biofuel.

These solid nanohybrid particles seem to be a strong candidate for fuel production, given the greater amount of precision and control they provide fuel makers and the speedier reaction times they enable. But they do still require a filtration process, an aspect of the experiment that was not extensively studied. Since reducing production time and increasing purity would be beneficial to the future of biofuel, streamlining the waste-removal step in this process will be critical. The paper also made no mention of whether their chosen nanoparticles were reusable after their initial reaction. Still, the basic principles seem solid, provided that these aspects of the catalysts can be optimized.