Measuring Biological Impacts Of Nanomaterials

This book reviews several aspects of the biological response to nanoscale particles on a molecular and cellular level. Nanoscale materials and nanoscale particles in particular have interesting properties and beneficial applications. While they thus have entered our daily lifes on many different levels (from electronics, over textiles, packaging or surface modifications, to biomedical applications), general rules describing their interaction with biological structures and biological matter are still difficult to derive. The existing literature suggests a variety of interaction schemes between nanoparticles and biological objects, not dispelling the public concerns about possible health effects and harmful properties. A systematic approach to the problem is needed and timely. This book specifically emphasizes bioanalytical problems starting from the characterization of the nanomaterials to the pitfalls and potential artifacts of state-of-the-art cytotoxicity assays that are frequently used to study harmful effects on cells. It also highlights the application of label-free bioanalytical techniques that can potentially complement the present approaches and hence provide new perspectives on this highly discussed cutting-edge field of research and public concern.

In this book the recent progress accumulated in studies of the interaction of engineered nanoparticles with cells and cellular constituents is presented. The focus is on manufacturing and characterization of nanosized materials, their interactions with biological molecules such as proteins, the mechanisms of transport across biological membranes as well as their effects on biological functions. Fundamental molecular and cellular aspects are in the foreground of the book. A further particularity is the interdisciplinary approach, including fields such as preparatory and analytical chemistry, biophysics and the physics of colloids, advanced microscopy and spectroscopy for in-situ detection of nanoparticles, cellular toxicology and nanomedicine. Nanoscale particles are known to exhibit novel and unprecedented properties that make them different from their corresponding bulk materials. As our ability to control these properties is further advanced, a huge potential to create materials with novel properties and applications emerges. Although the technological and economic benefits of nanomaterials are indisputable, concerns have also been raised that nanoscale structuring of materials might also induce negative health effects. Unfortunately, such negative health effects cannot be deduced from the known toxicity of the corresponding macroscopic material. As a result, there is a major gap in the knowledge necessary for assessing their risk to human health.

An examination of the widespread application of nano materials in biology, medicine, and pharmaceuticals and the accompanying safety concerns, Bio-interactions of Nano Materials addresses the issues related to toxicity and safety of nano materials and nano systems. It covers the interactions in biological systems and presents various tools and methods used to evaluate the nano toxicity and nano safety issues. Written by leading scientists, the book focuses on the bio-interaction of nano materials, covering various techniques and tests which have been developed to evaluate the toxicity of materials at the nano level. The book highlights the challenges of bio-interactions of nano materials and possible solutions to those challenges. It addresses the assessment and characterization of nano systems in bio-environments, toxicity and bio-sensing devices for toxicity assessment, carbon nano tubes and pulmonary toxicity, and nano toxicity of solid lipid nanoparticles. It also discusses nano safety concerns and solutions, including the effects of nano particles on different organs and regulatory implications of nano materials. These particles may be used to encapsulate drugs, recognize biological markers, or visualize body tissues among many other possibilities, all enabling their widespread application in biology, medicine, and pharmaceutics. Indeed, these nano materials may have beneficial effects that have not even been imagined. This book gives you an understanding of the safety issues, how to assess for them, and how to mitigate them to move forward in research and development of new applications for nano materials.

This book offers an unparalleled source of information on in vivo assessment of nanoparticle toxicity by using Drosophila as a model organism. Nanoparticles have emerged as an useful tool for wide variety of biomedical, cosmetics, and industrial applications. However, our understanding of nanomaterial-mediated toxicity under in vivo condition remains limited. The book begins with a chapter on synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles used for various biological, medical and commercial purposes. The rest of the chapters deal with the impact of nanoparticles on different biological aspects like behavior, physiology and metabolic homoeostasis using Drosophila as a model organism. Lastly, the book summarizes how proper characterization and evaluation of safe dosage of nanoparticles can be a boon if incorporated in consumer goods and for biomedical applications. Overall, the book pursues an interdisciplinary approach by connecting nanotechnology and biology from various angles using Drosophila as a model system, so as to develop more efficient, safe and effective use of nanoparticles for human beings.

Characterization of Nanomaterials in Complex Environmental and Biological Media covers the novel properties of nanomaterials and their applications to consumer products and industrial processes. The book fills the growing gap in this challenging area, bringing together disparate strands in chemistry, physics, biology, and other relevant disciplines. It provides an overview on nanotechnology, nanomaterials, nano(eco)toxicology, and nanomaterial characterization, focusing on the characterization of a range of nanomaterial physicochemical properties of relevance to environmental and toxicological studies and their available analytical techniques. Readers will find a multidisciplinary approach that provides highly skilled scientists, engineers, and technicians with the tools they need to understand and interpret complicated sets of data obtained through sophisticated analytical techniques. Addresses the requirements, challenges, and solutions for nanomaterial characterization in environmentally complex media Focuses on technique limitations, appropriate data collection, data interpretation, and analysis Aids in understanding and comparing nanomaterial characterization data reported in the literature using different analytical tools Includes case studies of characterization relevant complex media to enhance understanding

This text coherently links biochemical fundamentals and mechanisms with economic and societal problems of environmental pollution. It addresses interdisciplinary topics such as regulatory problems, sampling and pollutant quantifi cation, model organisms and provides a philosophical perspective on the toxin load on a variety of organisms, including humans in the environment in the Anthropocene. Case studies and exercises illustrate current issues and discuss future aspects.

This book focuses on the materials, synthetic methods, tools and techniques being developed in the nanoregime towards the life sciences -- in particular biology, biotechnology and medicine. Readers from materials science, engineering, chemistry, biology and medical backgrounds will find detailed accounts of the design and synthesis of nanomaterials and the tools and techniques involved in their production for applications in biology, biotechnology and medicine.