Medical Applications of

Nanotechnology

Luke and Matt

Group 1

 Background
Applications

Outline

Current Research

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

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!