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Background: Nanobiotechnologies are being applied to molecular diagnostics and several technologies are in development. Methods: This review describes nanobiotechnologies that are already incorporated in molecular diagnostics or have potential applications in clinical diagnosis. Selected promising technologies from published literature as well as some technologies that are in commercial development but have not been reported are included. Results: Nanotechnologies enable diagnosis at the single-cell and molecule levels, and some can be incorporated in current molecular diagnostic methods, such as biochips. Nanoparticles, such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots, are the most widely used, but various other nanotechnological devices for manipulation at the nanoscale as well as nanobiosensors are also promising for potential clinical applications. Conclusions: Nanotechnologies will extend the limits of current molecular diagnostics and enable point-ofcare diagnostics, integration of diagnostics with therapeutics, and development of personalized medicine. Although the potential diagnostic applications are unlimited, the most important current applications are foreseen in the areas of biomarker discovery, cancer diagnosis, and detection of infectious microorganisms. Safety studies are needed for in vivo use. Because of its close interrelationships with other technologies, nanobiotechnology in clinical diagnosis will play an important role in the development of nanomedicine in the future.

This is an overview of drug delivery systems (DDS), starting with various routes of drug administration. Various drug formulations, as well as devices used for drug delivery and targeted drug delivery, are then described. Delivery of proteins and peptides presents special challenges. Nanoparticles are considered to be important in refining drug delivery; they can be pharmaceuticals as well as diagnostics. Refinements in drug delivery will facilitate the development of personalized medicine, which includes pharmacogenomics, pharmacogenetics, and pharmacoproteomics. The ideal DDS, commercial aspects, current achievements, challenges, and future prospects are also discussed.

Nanomedicine is the application of nanobiotechnologies to medicine. This article starts with the basics of nanobiotechnology, followed by its applications in molecular diagnostics, nanodiagnostics, and improvements in the discovery, design and delivery of drugs, including nanopharmaceuticals. It will improve biological therapies such as vaccination, cell therapy and gene therapy. Nanobiotechnology forms the basis of many new devices being developed for medicine and surgery such as nanorobots. It has applications in practically every branch of medicine and examples are presented of those concerning cancer (nanooncology), neurological disorders (nanoneurology), cardiovascular disorders (nanocardiology), diseases of bones and joints (nanoorthopedics), diseases of the eye (nanoophthalmology), and infectious diseases. Safety issues of in vivo use of nanomaterials are also discussed. Nanobiotechnology will facilitate the integration of diagnostics with therapeutics and facilitate the development of personalized medicine, i.e. prescription of specific therapeutics best suited for an individual. Many of the developments have already started and within a decade a definite impact will be felt in the practice of medicine.

Nanotechnology extends the limits of molecular diagnostics to the nanoscale. Nanotechnology-on-a-chip is one more dimension of microfluidic/lab-on-a-chip technology. Biological tests measuring the presence or activity of selected substances become quicker, more sensitive and more flexible when certain nanoscale particles are put to work as tags or labels. Magnetic nanoparticles, bound to a suitable antibody, are used to label specific molecules, structures or microorganisms. Magnetic immunoassay techniques have been developed in which the magnetic field generated by the magnetically labeled targets is detected directly with a sensitive magnetometer. Gold nanoparticles tagged with short segments of DNA can be used for detection of genetic sequence in a sample. Multicolor optical coding for biological assays has been achieved by embedding different-sized quantum dots into polymeric microbeads. Nanopore technology for analysis of nucleic acids converts strings of nucleotides directly into electronic signatures. DNA nanomachines can function as biomolecular detectors for homogeneous assays. Nanobarcodes, submicrometer metallic barcodes with striping patterns prepared by sequential electrochemical depositon of metal, show differential reflectivity of adjacent stripes enabling identification of the striping patterns by conventional light microscopy. All this has applications in population diagnostics and in point-of-care hand-held devices.