Bio nanotechnology which is also termed as nanobiotechnology usually refers more specifically to the study of materials and use of nanotechnological devices for applications in biotechnology.It is a field which exists at the interface of biology and materials science. Materials on nano scale can be tailored to have a range of special properties that make them of interest to biologists. It also involves the use of biomolecules for applications in nanotechnology, a major example of this being DNA nanotechnology which uses self assembling nucleic acid structures to control matter at the nanoscale. Coating the surface of these particles with biological molecules (e.g. antibodies, DNA) allows the nanoparticles to perform functions such as targeted delivery, imaging or providing in-vitro diagnostics.
Nanobiotechnology is often used to describe the overlapping multidisciplinary activities associated with biosensors particularly where photonics, chemistry, biology, biophysics nanomedicine and engineering converge. Researchers have begun to explore the interface of biology and electronics by integrating nanoelectronic components such as silicon chips and living cells. Silicon chips can be used as intracellular sensors. These chips are made of a typical semiconductor material – silicon – and produced by common industrial manufacturing technologies based on photolithographic processes and internalized inside living cells by different techniques (lipofection, phagocytosis or microinjection) and, most significantly, they can be used as intracellular sensors. After inserting the chips into the live cells they live for nearly a week. The main applications of future intracellular chips will be the study of individual cells as well as early detection of diseases. Based on newly developed constructs with synthetic components and arrays of cells, it may soon be possible to repair tissues (e.g., skin, muscle, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, nerves, and bone) with implants composed of biocompatible coatings that the body will accept and integrate within the physiological medium. This provides endless possibilities for the design of innovative devices with intracellular applications and biocompatible implants.
Applications of nanobiotechnology include creation of targeted nanomachines for use in nanomedicine, applications of self-assembly to create novel biomaterials, the harnessing of molecular motors, DNA computers, artificial life, and biosensors. Biologically-inspired evolutionary methods are also being used to discover new nanomachinery, and hybrids of bionanomachinery with inorganic materials are being developed. Natural bionanomachines are built with a hierarchical strategy. Subunits are organic compounds composed of atoms connected by covalent bonds. These subunits are designed to fold into stable globular structures, which then self-assemble or self-organize into higher-order structures. Bionanomachines interact through specific recognition sites, and flexibility plays an important role in their structure and function.
Nanobiotechnology also deals on Dip-Pen nanolithography (DPN), which uses a sharp, pen-like device and "ink" to "write" nanoscale patterns on solid surfaces. Both are capable of producing materials with enormous potential not only for diagnostic applications in health care but also for virtually any field that uses materials, from tissue engineering to drug discovery to computer chip fabrication.