Nanotechnology for biology and medicine

Abstract

This chapter reviews many of the ways that nanotechnology may impact human health. Nanotechnology may provide new diagnostic and therapeutic techniques for intervention with environmental disorders, developmental diseases, and degenerative diseases. The chapter considers the opportunities likely to arise over short-term, mid-term, and long-term time scales. It also recognizes the technical challenges of using nanomaterials for biology and medicine and their possible adverse consequences. It concludes with a brief description of the Center for Biological Nanotechnology, which is pioneering in this area, and offers a vision of the future. © 2006 Springer.