Nanotechnology for Medicine & Pharmacy
Nanotechnology for medicine (nanomedicine) is the medical application of nanotechnology.
Nanomedicine is more about transport than about pharmacy. Nanomedicine can be categorized as a new pharmaceutical infrastructure where nanocapsules transport active ingredients directly to their site of action inside the human body. The medical advances that may be possible through nanotechnology range from diagnostic to therapeutic, and everything in between. Nanomedicine, and nanotechnology in general, is new and little experimental data about unintended and adverse effects exists. The lack of knowledge about how nanoparticles might affect or interfere with the biochemical pathways and processes of the human body is particularly troublesome. Scientists are primarily concerned with toxicity, characterization and exposure pathways. Beyond the issue of safety lies the question of society’s ethical use of nanotechnology.
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Image Courtesy A. Dzurak, University of New South Wales