Applications of bionanotechnology are extremely widespread. Insofar as the distinction holds, nanobiotechnology is much more commonplace in that it simply provides more tools for the study of biology. Bionanotechnology, on the other hand, promises to recreate biological mechanisms and pathways in a form that is useful in other ways.
Nanomedicine Nanomedicine is a field of medical science whose applications are increasing. ;Nanobots The field includes
nanorobots and
biological machines, which constitute a very useful tool to develop this area of knowledge. In the past years, researchers have made many improvements in the different devices and systems required to develop functional nanorobots – such as motion and magnetic guidance. This supposes a new way of treating and dealing with diseases such as cancer; thanks to nanorobots, side effects of chemotherapy could get controlled, reduced and even eliminated, so some years from now, cancer patients could be offered an alternative to treat such diseases instead of chemotherapy, which causes secondary effects such as hair loss, fatigue or nausea killing not only cancerous cells but also the healthy ones. Nanobots could be used for various therapies, surgery, diagnosis, and medical imaging – such as via targeted drug-delivery to the brain (similar to
nanoparticles) and other sites. Programmability for combinations of features such as "tissue penetration, site-targeting, stimuli responsiveness, and cargo-loading" makes such nanobots promising candidates for "
precision medicine". At a clinical level, cancer treatment with nanomedicine would consist of the supply of nanorobots to the patient through an injection that will search for cancerous cells while leaving the healthy ones untouched. Patients that are treated through nanomedicine would thereby not notice the presence of these nanomachines inside them; the only thing that would be noticeable is the progressive improvement of their health. Nanobiotechnology may be useful for medicine formulation. "Precision antibiotics" has been proposed to make use of
bacteriocin-mechanisms for targeted antibiotics. ;Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles are already widely used in medicine. Its applications overlap with those of nanobots and in some cases it may be difficult to distinguish between them. They can be used to for diagnosis and
targeted drug delivery, encapsulating medicine. Some can be
manipulated using magnetic fields and, for example, experimentally, remote-controlled
hormone release has been achieved this way. One example advanced application under development are "Trojan horse" designer-nanoparticles that makes blood cells eat away – from the inside out – portions of
atherosclerotic plaque that cause heart attacks and are the current
most common cause of death globally. ;Artificial cells
Artificial cells such as synthetic red blood cells that have all or many of
the natural cells' known broad natural properties and abilities could be used to load functional cargos such as
hemoglobin, drugs, magnetic
nanoparticles, and ATP
biosensors which may enable additional non-native functionalities. ;Other Nanofibers that mimic the matrix around cells and contain molecules that were engineered to wiggle was shown to be a
potential therapy for spinal cord injury in mice. Technically, gene therapy can also be considered to be a form of nanobiotechnology or to move towards it. Moreover, such genetically modified neurons may enable connecting external components – such as prosthetic limbs – to nerves.
Nanosensors based on e.g. nanotubes, nanowires, cantilevers, or atomic force microscopy could be applied to diagnostic devices/sensors
In vivo biosensors Another example of current nanobiotechnological research involves nanospheres coated with fluorescent polymers. Researchers are seeking to design polymers whose fluorescence is quenched when they encounter specific molecules. Different polymers would detect different metabolites. The polymer-coated spheres could become part of new biological assays, and the technology might someday lead to particles which could be introduced into the human body to track down
metabolites associated with tumors and other health problems. Another example, from a different perspective, would be evaluation and therapy at the nanoscopic level, i.e. the treatment of nanobacteria (25-200 nm sized) as is done by NanoBiotech Pharma.
In vitro biosensors "Nanoantennas" made out of DNA – a novel type of nano-scale
optical antenna – can be attached to proteins and produce a signal via
fluorescence when these perform their biological functions, in particular for their distinct
conformational changes. This could be used for further nanobiotechnology such as various types of nanomachines, to develop new drugs, for bioresearch and for new avenues in biochemistry.
Energy It may also be useful in
sustainable energy: in 2022, researchers reported
3D-printed nano-"skyscraper" electrodes – albeit
micro-scale, the pillars
had nano-features of porosity due to printed metal nanoparticle inks – (nanotechnology) that house
cyanobacteria for extracting substantially more
sustainable bioenergy from their
photosynthesis (biotechnology) than in earlier studies.
Nanobiology While nanobiology is in its infancy, there are a lot of promising methods that may rely on nanobiology in the future. Biological systems are inherently nano in scale; nanoscience must merge with biology in order to deliver
biomacromolecules and molecular machines that are similar to nature. Controlling and mimicking the devices and processes that are constructed from molecules is a tremendous challenge to face for the converging disciplines of nanobiotechnology. All living things, including
humans, can be considered to be
nanofoundries. Natural evolution has optimized the "natural" form of nanobiology over millions of years. In the 21st century, humans have developed the technology to artificially tap into nanobiology. This process is best described as "organic merging with synthetic". Colonies of live
neurons can live together on a
biochip device; according to research from Gunther Gross at the
University of North Texas. Self-assembling nanotubes have the ability to be used as a structural system. They would be composed together with
rhodopsins; which would facilitate the optical computing process and help with the storage of biological materials.
DNA (as the
software for all living things) can be used as a structural proteomic system – a logical component for molecular computing. Ned Seeman – a researcher at
New York University – along with other researchers are currently researching concepts that are similar to each other.
Bionanotechnology Distinction from nanobiotechnology Broadly, bionanotechnology can be distinguished from nanobiotechnology in that it refers to nanotechnology that makes use of biological materials/components – it could in principle or does alternatively use abiotic components. It plays a smaller role in medicine (which is concerned with biological organisms). It makes use of natural or biomimetic systems or elements for unique nanoscale structures and various applications that may not be directionally associated with biology rather than mostly biological applications. In contrast, nanobiotechnology uses biotechnology miniaturized to nanometer size or incorporates nanomolecules into biological systems. In some future applications, both fields could be merged.
DNA DNA nanotechnology is one important example of bionanotechnology. The utilization of the inherent properties of
nucleic acids like
DNA to create useful materials or devices – such as
biosensors – is a promising area of modern research.
DNA digital data storage refers mostly to the use of synthesized but otherwise conventional strands of
DNA to store digital data, which could be useful for e.g. high-density long-term
data storage that isn't accessed and written to frequently as an alternative to
5D optical data storage or for use in combination with other nanobiotechnology.
Membrane materials Another important area of research involves taking advantage of
membrane properties to generate synthetic membranes. Proteins that
self-assemble to generate functional materials could be used as a novel approach for the large-scale production of programmable nanomaterials. One example is the development of
amyloids found in bacterial
biofilms as engineered
nanomaterials that can be programmed genetically to have different properties.
Lipid nanotechnology Lipid nanotechnology is another major area of research in bionanotechnology, where physico-chemical properties of lipids such as their antifouling and self-assembly is exploited to build nanodevices with applications in medicine and engineering. Lipid nanotechnology approaches can also be used to develop next-generation emulsion methods to maximize both absorption of fat-soluble nutrients and the ability to incorporate them into popular beverages.
Computing "
Memristors" fabricated from
protein nanowires of the bacterium
Geobacter sulfurreducens which function at substantially lower voltages than previously described ones may allow the construction of artificial neurons which function at voltages of biological
action potentials. The nanowires have a range of advantages over silicon nanowires and the memristors may be used to directly process
biosensing signals, for
neuromorphic computing (see also:
wetware computer) and/or
direct communication with biological neurons.
Other Protein folding studies provide a third important avenue of research, but one that has been largely inhibited by our inability to predict protein folding with a sufficiently high degree of accuracy. Given the myriad uses that biological systems have for proteins, though, research into understanding protein folding is of high importance and could prove fruitful for bionanotechnology in the future.
Agriculture In the agriculture industry, engineered nanoparticles have been serving as nano carriers, containing herbicides, chemicals, or genes, which target particular plant parts to release their content. Previously nanocapsules containing herbicides have been reported to effectively penetrate through cuticles and tissues, allowing the slow and constant release of the active substances. Likewise, other literature describes that nano-encapsulated slow release of fertilizers has also become a trend to save fertilizer consumption and to minimize environmental pollution through
precision farming. These are only a few examples from numerous research works which might open up exciting opportunities for nanobiotechnology application in agriculture. Also, application of this kind of engineered nanoparticles to plants should be considered the level of amicability before it is employed in agriculture practices. Based on a thorough literature survey, it was understood that there is only limited authentic information available to explain the biological consequence of engineered nanoparticles on treated plants. Certain reports underline the phytotoxicity of various origin of engineered nanoparticles to the plant caused by the subject of concentrations and sizes . At the same time, however, an equal number of studies were reported with a positive outcome of nanoparticles, which facilitate growth promoting nature to treat plant. In particular, compared to other nanoparticles, silver and gold nanoparticles based applications elicited beneficial results on various plant species with less and/or no toxicity. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) treated leaves of Asparagus showed the increased content of ascorbate and chlorophyll. Similarly, AgNPs-treated common bean and corn has increased shoot and root length, leaf surface area, chlorophyll, carbohydrate and protein contents reported earlier. The gold nanoparticle has been used to induce growth and seed yield in Brassica juncea. Nanobiotechnology is used in
tissue cultures. The administration of
micronutrients at the level of individual atoms and molecules allows for the stimulation of various stages of development, initiation of
cell division, and differentiation in the production of plant material, which must be qualitatively uniform and genetically homogeneous. The use of nanoparticles of zinc (ZnO NPs) and silver (Ag NPs) compounds gives very good results in the micropropagation of
chrysanthemums using the method of single-node shoot fragments. ==Tools==