TECHNICAL BACKGROUND FIRST

Nanobiology is the study of biological interactions at the nanoscale. In nanotechnology, the nanoscale refers to structures having a length scale of 1–100 nanometers (10-9), one of the most commonly used length scales. With applications in biology, medicine, chemistry, and physics, nanobiology combines nanoscience and life sciences. 

A nanobiologist studies and imitates biological systems, while a nanobiotechnologist uses these biological systems. At the cellular level nanobiology investigates matter such as DNA and proteins, cell membranes, signal transduction and electrical control, the dynamic characteristics of the cells, all of which are nano-properties of organisms.

Nanodiagnostics refers to the development of tools and materials that are effective at operating on the same scale as biological and physiological processes. Nanomaterial-based imaging agents are being used in clinical imaging, mainly for detection of leaky vessels, inflammation, and molecular imaging involving active targeting surface antibodies or small peptides. Nanodiagnostics are also used in the detection of different molecules both ex vivo and in vitro, such as in pregnancy tests or the detection of biomarkers, where they are used to reduce noise.

WHAT THEY SOLVE

Nanobiology combines the tools, ideas, and materials of nanoscience and biology to address biological problems; it devises ways to construct molecular devices using biomacromolecules (large biological molecules); and it looks for molecular machines based on principles observed in nature. Nanobiology will not only increase of understanding of biology at the smallest level, it will also lead to the development of nanodiagnostics (mostly imaging) and nanodrugs.​ There are also some unexpected research directions, such as the discovery of nanoenzymes and their functional research and application.

There has been an explosive growth in the field of nanodiagnostics, which leverages advances in nanobiotechnology to provide a better way to visualise and diagnose diseases. In a perfect world, diagnostic tools would be sufficiently sensitive for them to detect microscopic adverse changes at the molecular level and to be extremely specific for identifying disease states.

In nanodiagnostics, the choice of nanomaterial plays an extremely important role because nanomaterials provide unparalleled access to their biological counterparts, they can be used as ultrasensitive sensing substrates, and they can also combine treatment and diagnosis capabilities. One of the key advantages of nanomaterials is that they are capable of interacting with biologically relevant structures (such as proteins) of nanoscale dimensions.

WHERE ARE WE NOW

It is still early days in the use of nanomaterials for the diagnosis and treatment of disease in vivo, due to a variety of factors including toxicities, disease-targeting capacities, and clearance mechanisms. Due to the fast-paced development of nanotechnology, it is expected that these questions will be resolved in the near future.

Currently, nanoparticles are mostly used for imaging, where they produce a contrast on the image when they are bound to their specific target. Recent clinical investments in imaging nanodiagnostics have been primarily focused on the treatment of cancer and cardiovascular disease; however, the treatment of type I diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease have garnered increasing clinical attention in the last decade.