This week, we would like you to perform a broad literature search about all the
ID: 63114 • Letter: T
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This week, we would like you to perform a broad literature search about all the ways nanotechnologies have been applied to your disease of interest. Up until now, our course has focused mostly on nanoparticles for drug delivery, but there a lot of other ways nanomedicine can also make a difference. You are encouraged to think about nanotechnology for screening, diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment monitoring. And don't limit yourself only to nanotechnologies that are put in the body, there are also a lot ex vivo tools that can be used outside of the body! In your blog, please provide a short summary of each of the ways nanotechnology is being applied to each of these areas. And be sure to take good notes, you will be using the materials you find to write your term paper!Explanation / Answer
In diagnosis and screening, using the quantum dots (a nanosized semiconductors which, functions as biosensors) to find the disease through generating fluorescence. It is also called as nanocrystals, these quantum dots highly advantageous over traditional organic dyes since, its lumination of fluorescence can be adjusted to a wide range of frequencies and they retain longer time in the body because of their slower degradation for distribution. These fluorescent quantum dots can be used to diagnose the malaria by targeting the protein involve in the formation of a mesh in the blood cell's inner membrane. The structural confimation of this protein network varies during infection with malaria parasite, It can be spotted by the quantum dots. Similarly, carbon nanotubes, nanowires, nanolitre (on-a-chip) devices, magnetic nanoparticles, nanosensor arrays can also be used as biosensors to detect diseases. Nanolitre (on-a-chip) devices can be used to automate a biological process using fluids at the nanolitre scale. Nanoparticles useful in medical imaging techniques with a sharper resolution that simplifes the disease diagnosis.
In drug delivery or prevention, nanocapsules (pods encapsulate drugs) helps in the slow and steadily release of drugs into the body. Liposomes, artificial lipid vesicles encapsulate the drug that can penetrate the cell membranes easily. Dendrimers are tree-shaped synthetic nanomolecules, carries the drug in their branch tips. Buckyballs, a spherical nanoparticles can encapsulate more than one drug at a time. Nanobiomagnets and Attapulgite clays are other options for drug delivery. In addition, nanotechnology can also useful to vaccines delivery to increase the immune response. Nanotubes and nanoparticles (sensors) also be useful to measure the glucose, carbon dioxide and cholesterol in-situ for monitoring of their homeostasis.
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