Medical Applications of
Nanotechnology
Luke and Matt
Group 1
• Background
• Applications
Outline
– Current Research
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Nanocrystals as fluorescent biological labels (UC Berkeley)
Magnetic Nanoparticles (NanoBMI)
Tissue Engineering (University of Minnesota)
DNA Chips (U. of Wisconsin, Stanford)
Detection of chemical and biological warfare agents (Naval Research
Laboratory)
• BioCom Chip (UC Berkeley)
– Future Possibilites
• Oxygen Selective Pump (Merkle)
• Nanorobots, Respirocytes (Freitas,
http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine)
• Cell Repair Machines (Drexler)
• Conclusion
Background
• Nanomedicine is the monitoring, repair,
construction, and control of human biological
systems at the molecular level using engineered
nanodevices and nanostructures.
• Microscopic machines were first hypothesized by
Richard Feynman in 1959.
• K. Eric Drexler described many applications of
these machines in Engines of Creation.
• Currently, several university and industrial
research groups are developing medical
applications for nanotechnology.
Nanocrystals as Fluorescent
Biological Labels
3.5 nm
crystals
bound to
cell nucleus
Bruchez, M. Jr., M. Moronne, P. Gin, S. Weiss, and A.P. Alivisatos. 1998. Semiconductor nanocrystals as
fluorescent biological labels. Science 281:2013-2016.
Chan, W.C.W., and S.M. Nie. 1998. Quantum dot bioconjugates for ultrasensitive nonisotopic detection.
Science 281:2016-2018.
http://www.wtec.org/loyola/nano/IWGN.Research.Directions/chapter08.pdf
NanoBMI
Biofunctional devices based on magnetic nanoparticles
•Delivery and controlled release of
therapeutics
•Bioswitches for organ function
•Imaging
Charles Seeney
President of NanoBMI
http://www.nanobmi.com
Tissue Engineering
•Nano/micro particles, including living animal
cells, bacteria, and colloidal gold (100 nm), can
be optically guided and deposited in arbitrarily
defined three-dimensional arrays, a process called
“laser-guided direct-writing.”
Odde, D.J. and M.J. Renn. 1998. Laser-based direct-write lithography of cells. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 26:S-141.
http://www.wtec.org/loyola/nano/IWGN.Research.Directions/chapter08.pdf
DNA Chips
Yeast cells were grown under
various conditions; the amount of red
or yellow light represents the level of
RNA produced from the DNA in that
gene, under those conditions.
Brown, P. 1999. http://cmgm.stanford.edu/pbrown/yeastchip.html
http://www.wtec.org/loyola/nano/IWGN.Research.Directions/chapter08.pdf
Detection of Chemical and Biological Warfare
Agents
One technique uses
atomic force
microscopy with a
sandwich immunoassay
attaching magnetic
beads to a
microfabricated
cantilever sensitive to
small displacements.
J. Murday, Colton, R. 1999. (Chemistry Division, Naval Research Laboratory).
http://www.wtec.org/loyola/nano/IWGN.Research.Directions/chapter08.pdf
BioCOM Chip
•Three cantilevers coated with three different antibodies, are exposed
to prostate-specific antigen (PSA)
•The left cantilever bends as PSA binds to the anti-PSA antibody on
the cantilever
•The other cantilevers do not bend because their antibodies do not
bind to PSA.
Min Yue, Katherine Dunphy, Henry Lin, Srinath Satyanarayana (http://www.nano.me.berkeley.edu/)
Future Possiblities: Oxygen
Selective Pump
http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/
Respirocytes: A Mechanical
Artifical Red Blood Cell
•Bloodborne spherical 1-micron diamondoid 1000-atm pressure
vessel
•Active pumping powered by endogenous serum glucose
•Able to deliver 236 times more oxygen to the tissues per unit
volume than natural red cells and to manage carbonic acidity
http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/Respirocytes.html
Fixing Damaged Blood Cells
http://bionano.rutgers.edu/mru.html
Conclusion
• Currently, a variety of research is being
performed on nanomedical devices.
• Few industrial products exist right now.
• The possibilities are endless, but will take
time to develop.
Sources
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http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/
http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/203.html
http://wtec.org/loyola/nano/IWGN.Research.Directions/
http://www.foresight.org/EOC/
http://www.nanobmi.com/
http://www.nano.me.berkeley.edu/
http://bionano.rutgers.edu/mru.html
In the Near Future:
Humanoid Shaped Nanorobots!