Nanomedicine is the application of nanotechnology (the engineering of tiny machines) to the prevention and treatment of disease in the human body. Nanomaterials can impart antibacterial and anti-odour functionality on human skin in powder, gel, stick or spray underarm products. It has also antimicrobial and anti-irritant properties. This discipline is in its infancy. It has the potential to change medical science dramatically in the 21st century. Molecular biomimetics: Nanotechnology through biologyMolecular biomimetics. This is the marriage of materials science engineering and molecular biology for development of functional hybrid systems, composed of inorganics and inorganic-binding proteins. The new approach takes advantage of DNA-based design, recognition,and self-assembly characteristics of biomolecules.Traditional materials science engineering produces materials (for example, mediumcarbon steels depicted in the bright-and darkfield TEM images), that have been successfully used over the last century. Molecular biology focuses on structure-function relations in biomacromolecules, for example, proteins.In molecular biomimetics, a marriage of the physical and biological fields, hybrid materials could potentially be assembled from the molecular level using the recognition properties of proteins under the premise that inorganic surface-specific polypeptides could be used as binding agents to control the organization and specific functions of materials.Molecular biomimetics simultaneously offers three solutions to the development of heterofunctional nanostructures.(1) The first is that protein templates are designed at the molecular level through genetics. This ensures complete control over the molecular structure of the protein template (that is, DNA-based technology).(2) The second is that surface-specific proteins can be used as linkers to bind synthetic entities, including nanoparticles, functional polymers, or other nanostructures onto molecular templates (molecular and nanoscale recognition).(3) The third solution harnesses the ability of biological molecules to self-and coassemble into ordered nanostructures. This ensures a robust assembly process for achieving complex nano-, and possibly hierarchical structures, similar to those found in nature (self-assembly).The current knowledge of protein-folding predictions and surfacebinding chemistries does not provide sufficiently detailed information to perform rational design of proteins. To circumvent this problem, massive libraries of randomly generated peptides can be screened for binding activity to inorganic surfaces using phage and cellsurface display techniques. It may ultimately be possible to construct a'molecular erector' set, in which different types of proteins, each designed to bind to a specific inorganic surface, could assemble into intricate, hybrid structures composed of inorganics and proteins. This would be a significant leap towards realizing molecularly designed, genetically engineered technological materials.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
334 Leonard St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.