Recent applications of nanodevices

Abstract

Although the "war on cancer and other disease like AIDS" is now in its fourth decade and despite much progress has been made in categorizing the environmental causes and cellular and molecular biological basis for this dreaded disease, we still do not have a precise understanding of the differences between a diseased cell and its normal counterpart. If we do not understand such disease, we cannot control and eliminate it. The completion of the human genome sequence and its subsequent improvements in the sequence data are important steps to fully comprehend disease cell biology. Nanotechnology, a new, novel focus of research evolved from the convergence and coalescence of many diverse scientific disciplines and as a general term for the creation, manipulation, and application of structures in the nanometer size range. In this review article, nanomedicine aspects of nanotechnology will be stressed and will cover areas such as drug delivery systems and new drug therapies as they relate to such disease. One of the ultimate goals of nanomedicine is to create medically useful nanodevices that can function inside the body. It is envisioned that nanodevices will be hybrids of biologic molecules and synthetic polymers that can enter cells and the organelles to interact directly with DNA and proteins. Additionally, nanomedicine will have an impact on the key challenges in cancer therapy: localized drug delivery and specific targeting. Among the newly developed nodevices such as quantum dots, magnetic nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles are the most promising applications for various cancer and other disease treatments.

Key words: Nanodevices, Nanomedicine, Drug Targeting.