The project reveals the influence of nanotechnology on clinical diagnosis and treatment, analysis of biologically relevant processes at single molecule level, and the development of biosensors. A special section dedicated to the research field of nanofluidics is also included.

The ability to engineer of the chemical and physical properties of nanosized drug carriers yielded significant progress in drug delivery methods. The distinctiveness of nano-materials has led to enhanced clinical diagnosis and novel treatment methods for cancer. Whether nano-particles reach the human body by intentional, e.g. as part of a medical imaging procedure, or non-intentional acts, their toxicity should be a concern.  

This section expands the subsection “Applications of Nanotechnology in Life Sciences” from the “Exploring Nanotechnology” multimedia encyclopedia.

Understanding processes occurring inside the living cell is important for explaining cellular metabolism. A key milestone in deciphering the cell’s mechanism is the analysis of complex reactions involving proteins and DNA with single molecule resolution.
Fluorescence based techniques are the most employed due to their flexibility and the diversity of fluorescence markers. Electro-optical and mechanical methods which reveal complementary facets of single molecules are also introduced.

This section expands the subsection “Instruments” from the “Exploring Nanotechnology” multimedia encyclopedia.

Microfluidics enables combinatorial screening approach to chemistry and biology by performing numerous experiments rapidly and in parallel, enhances patient compliance with laboratory tests by using only minute amounts of sample, studies transient or hazardous chemical reactions or processes in safe micro-reactor environments.
Nanofluidics is a trend within the field of microfluidics which studies devices comprising nano channels. Although still in its infancy, this domain of research has already showed intriguing results which can be basis for future applications.