ABSTRACT
The physical sciences offer a wide range of tools for the synthesis and fabrication of novel devices designed for a better manipulation of cells and sub-cellular components features, and of materials that provide innovative tools to operate on cellular machineries and to study molecular biology rules. The use of microorganisms to synthesize functional nanoparticles has been of great interest. This chapter will describe this approach in comparison to current chemical and physical methods. The concept of bio-fabrication, i.e. the set of methodologies addressed to the production of rather complex constructs with predefined biological properties, and how bacterial and even higher organisms’ processes are manipulated to obtain functional recombinant nanomedicines, is examined. Some particular examples are analyzed to validate that routes for synthesizing nanomaterials can be achieved in aqueous phase under gentle and environmentally benign conditions, which has become an attractive focus in current green bio-nanotechnology research towards sustainable development.
