Optical tweezers

Optical tweezer is an optical device where laser light is used for the fine manipulation of nanosized particles.  Here light is allowed to move around nanosized particles as well as single atoms. A sharply focused laser beam is allowed to pass through a lens. Lens focuses the light to a tiny spot in the specimen. This helps to create an optical trap which is capable of holding extremely small objects between 10nm and 100 nanometers in size. Movement and manipulation of these trapped nanoparticles can be done effectively. The main application of optical tweezers is in the study and characterization of DNA and proteins. Optical tweezers help scientists to see the nanoparticles and can be controlled by a computer. Computer controlled optical tweezers are capable of measuring fine displacements and forcing circular motion to the nanoparticles.

Carbon nanotubes for cancer therapy

Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical fullerene (giant carbon molecule). They are mechanically strong and electrically semiconducting. They can be used for cancer treatment. When carbon nanotubes are exposed to near infrared (NIR) radiation, heats up to 350 K. This property is used in cancer therapy. Folic acid adsorbed on carbon nanotubes can provide specific binding to cancer affected cells.  Upon proper NIR radiation, these cells can be destroyed. Bucky balls or spherical fullerenes are also used for cancer treatment. Derivatives of fullerenes have good biocompatibility and extremely low toxicity. These properties make it a good pharmaceutical agent. Fullerene derivatives are found to be effective against human immunodeficiency (HIV) virus and antibacterial agents such as streptococcus, mycobacterium tuberculosis and Escherichia coli. Fullerene derivatives are also  used for the treatment of tumors, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Nanobiotechnology

Nanobiotechnology is a new branch of science/engineering which deals with the combination of nanotechnology and biotechnology. There exist many biosystems in the nanoregime showing superlative properties. The living cell consists of numerous nanomachines carrying out various functions. DNA and proteins are examples of nanosized biomolecules. Nanobiotechnology is an emerging interdisciplinary area normally getting attraction from life scientists, engineers, chemists, physical scientists and industrialists. Bio-structured molecular machines are the basic components in this area with biomolecules as building blocks. Biological nanodevices can be fabricated by employing either top down approach or botton up approach. Strong covalent bonding is a feature of nanodevices fabricated via bottom up approach. Nanodevices can be used in medical field for gene delivery, drug delivery, diagnosis, tissue related issues and biomedical sensing.