ABSTRACT
The progress in nanotechnology based on inorganic and organic materials has led naturally to a search for connections between these things and biology creating the one of the hottest areas of science and technology. The nanoparticles provide a versatile tool for the interaction of biological and chemical materials systems. An increasingly widespread interest in the fields of biology and medicine has generated advances in synthesis and biofunctionalization of metallic and semiconductor nanocrystals. Metal and semiconductor nanoparticles in the 2–6 nm size range are of considerable current interest because of their dimensional similarities with biological macromolecules their unique size-dependent properties. Fluorescent metalic and semiconductor nanoparticles, or quantum dots, have been developed for use in imaging and have been employed as markers for biological processes. Composite Organic-Inorganic Nanoparticles is a novel class of optical labels for detection of biomolecules. The biological nanostructures could be fabricated as hybrid materials including biomolecules, metallic, and/or semiconductor nanoparticles.
