To start with, nanotechnology is defined as the engineering or a functional system at the nanoscale. More precisely at about 1 to 100 nanometers. On the other hand, nanoscience is concerned with materials and systems whose structures and components exhibit novel and significantly improved physical, chemical and biological properties, phenomena and processes, because of their small nanoscale size. To give you an idea about the size we are dealing with here, just imagine 1 meter and divide it by 1,000,000,000 times. The applications of such a small system are mainly in biology, chemistry, physics and of course engineering. It all started with the “The Father of Nanotechnology”: Richard Feynman. In December 29, 1959, long before the term nanotechnology existed, Richard Feynman started a talk entitled “There’s plenty of room at the bottom”, at the American Physical Society at California Institute of Technology. His talk was inspired about how scientists would be able to control and manipulate individual atoms and molecules. And it was only ten years later that the Professor Norio Taniguchi, in his research of ultraprecision machining, that he coined the term ‘nanotechnology’. It is commonly known that nanotechnology is closely associated with modern medicine research. It is a must to find new alternatives to cure diseases and infirmities which we thought were impossible to deal with before. Here are some examples of what advances in nanomedicine has led to over the past few years: 1. Molecular motors are natural or in this case, artificial molecular machines that are the essential agents of movement in living organism. Basically, a motor is a device that consumes energy in one form and converts it into motion or mechanical work. An example of such motors would be ribosome being a biological machine which utilizes protein-dynamics to harness the chemical free energy released by hydrolysis of ATP in order to perform mechanical work. Going back to the main topic; recently, chemists and those involved in nanotechnology have begun to explore the possibility of creating molecular motors. Unfortunately, these synthetic molecular motors currently suffer many limitations that confine their use to the research laboratory. However, many of these limitations may be overcome as our understanding of chemistry and physics at the nanoscale increases. 2. Nanodrugs are basically the application of nanotechnology to drugs. The use of such advances in the medical field has the potential to significantly change the course of diagnostics and treatment of various life-threatening diseases. Functionalized nanodrug systems might lower the frequency of administration while providing maximized pharmacological effects and minimized systemic side effects, possibly leading to better therapeutic compliance and clinical outcomes. 3. Orthopedic implants are medical devices manufactured to replace missing joints, bones or even to provide support to a damaged bone. Since we unfortunately cannot cover all the 206 bones in the human body, we shall focus on one of the most important set of bones we have; our spine. Surgical treatments for degenerative disc disease such as discectomy and fusion are often associated with the loss of spinal mobility. Inconsistent outcomes and complications with the current treatments have created a role for nanotech research involving novel cell-based therapies, including tissue engineering for intervertebral disc (IVD) regeneration. Surgical interventions for peripheral nerve injuries have been criticized in the past as inefficient and cost-defective. Neuron regeneration using nanoengineering may offer an attractive method for management of peripheral nerve injuries by eliminating the morbidity associated with such surgical interventions. Synthetic conduits using carbon nanotubes and nanoscaffolds offer more tunable mechanical properties and may enhance nerve regeneration through augmented surface topographical interactions. It sure is stunning to see how such small things make a huge difference at the end of the day. Day after day, highly skilled scientists, physicists, engineers and doctors are working to exhaustion in hope of curing any disease increases. In due time this dream which seemed out of reach will become reality and nanotechnology shall be the key to achieve such a ‘crazy dream’
By Khodabocus Akeel
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