Nano-Biotechnology

Nanotechnology is a novel scientific approach

that involves materials and equipments capable
of manipulating physical as well as chemical
properties of a substance at molecular levels. On
the other hand, biotechnology uses the
knowledge and techniques of biology to
manipulate molecular, genetic and cellular
processes to develop products and services and is
used in diverse fields from medicine to
agriculture.

Gold Nano- Particles

Gold Nano particles are important due to the vibrant colors produced by
their interaction with visible light. More recently, these unique opticalelectronics properties have been researched and utilized in high
technology applications such as organic photovoltaics, sensory probes,
therapeutic agents, drug delivery in biological and medical applications,
electronic conductors and catalysis. The optical and electronic properties
of gold nanoparticles are tunable by changing the size, shape, surface
chemistry, or aggregation state.
Therapeutic Agent Delivery - Therapeutic agents can also be coated onto
the surface of gold nanoparticles.The large surface area-to-volume ratio of
gold nanoparticles enables their surface to be coated with hundreds of
molecules (including therapeutics, targeting agents, and anti-fouling
polymers.

S.P.I.O.N.S
(Super paramagnetic iron oxide nano particles)
Iron oxide nanoparticles are iron oxide particles with diameters
between about 1 and 100 nanometers. The two main forms
are magnetite (Fe3O4) and its oxidized form maghemite (-Fe2O3).
They have attracted extensive interest due to their superparamagnetic properties.
their magnetic properties, based on their inducible magnetization,
allow them to be directed to a defined location or heated in the
presence of an externally applied AC magnetic field. This
characteristics makes them attractive for many applications, ranging
from various separation techniques and contrast enhancing agents
for MRI to drug delivery systems, magnetic hyperthermia (local heat
source in the case of tumor therapy), and magnetically assisted
transfection of cells.

Synthesis of S.P.I.O.N.S
The colloidal stability and behaviour of nanoparticles in
suspensions can be tailored and is related to the pH, additives
in the solution as in cell media or body fluids, their viscosity
and any other fluidic properties. Long range, attractive van
der Waals forces are ubiquitous between such nanoparticles
and must be balanced by Coulombic, steric, or other repulsive
interactions to engineer the desired degree of colloidal
stability. Beside a long term stability demanded for
nanoparticle suspensions for use in biomedical applications,
guarantees for a high quality in the particle production like
small particle size distribution and constant coating properties
are required.

In a second step, the nanoparticles have to be tailored to render their performance

in a specific biological environment, i.e. either to attach or to enter cells in case of
drug targeting, gene transfection or for long time persistence within the blood
Superparamagnetic nanoparticles for biomedical and for MRI applications (bloodpool contrast agent).

Gold Particle Synthesis

o Generally, gold nanoparticles are produced in a liquid

("liquid chemical methods") by reduction of chloroauric
acid (H[AuCl
4]), although more advanced and precise methods do exist. After dissolving H[AuCl
4], the solution is rapidly stirred while a reducing agent is added. This causes Au3+ ions to be
reduced to neutral gold atoms. As more and more of these gold atoms form, the solution
becomes supersaturated, and gold gradually starts to precipitate in the form of subnanometer particles. The rest of the gold atoms that form stick to the existing particles, and,
if the solution is stirred vigorously enough, the particles will be fairly uniform in size.
Methods :-

1. BRUST METHOD
It involves the reaction of a chlorauric acid solution with tetraoctylammonium bromide
(TOAB)solution in toluene and sodium borohydride as an anti-coagulant and a reducing
agent, respectively.Here, the gold nanoparticles will be 2 to 6 nm in diameter. NaBH4 is
the reducing agent, and TOAB is both the phase transfer catalyst and the stabilizing agent.

2.Sonolysis
In one such process based on ultrasound, the reaction of an aqueous solution of HAuCl4
with glucose, the reducing agents are hydroxyl radicals and sugar pyrolysis
radicals(forming at the interfacial region between the collapsing cavities and the bulk
water) and the morphology obtained is that of nanoribbons with width 30-50 nm and
length of several micrometers. These ribbons are very flexible and can bend with angles
larger than 90. When glucose is replaced by cyclodextrin (a glucose oligomer) only
spherical gold particles are obtained suggesting that glucose is essential in directing the
morphology towards a ribbon.

Other methods : Martin Method, Turkevich Method