ABSTRACT
Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have become a popular material in the field of nanomedicine. Their shape, strength and electrical conductance properties make CNTs unique from many nanoparticles and present advantages when used in biological applications. This chapter discusses numerous methods of association of CNTs to nucleic acids, advances made in CNT-mediated delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids, and discuss the controversy that exists in current literature reports. Perhaps the simplest way to make CNT complexes with nucleic acids is a layered process that takes advantage of the carboxyl functional groups already present on oxidized carbon nantotubes. Polyethylenimine grafted onto sidewalls of multi-walled carbon nanotubes was used as a plasmid delivery vehicle. The use of sonication in the cross-linking of DNA to CNTs has excited researchers as a non-covalent method of conjugation. Nucleic acids have been shown to associate with CNTs by non-covalent association, direct covalent linkage, and linkage through a cleavable spacer.
