What is Nanotechnology?

Most research in the new and exciting field of nanotechnology revolves around the study of very small materials, about 10000 times smaller than the human hair! These materials are normally man-made produced and they have a lot of different applications.

One of the most important applications in nanotechnology is in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Cancer nanotechnology provides a new approach to the fight against cancer with early diagnosis and personalized therapy. The biggest impact nanotechnology would have would be by predicting cancer and diagnosing the disease in its early stages. Early diagnosis can not only be life-saving, but it can also prevent the need for painful treatments like chemotherapy or surgery. Nanotechnology can also have a great impact in cancer treatment because it can target specific parts of the body. For example, nanotech has the ability to target the malignant cells, which are the parts of the body making someone sick with cancer.

Nanotechnology can also be applied in drug delivery, which is how the medicine gets to the part of the body it needs to. Over the past years, different types of nanoparticles have been created based on various different elements and macromolecules (molecules that make up every living thing). Because these man-made particles are entirely made of material found naturally in the body, it is unlikely the body will have a bad reaction, which makes these nanoparticles useful in medicine. Nanoparticles’ use in drug delivery is based on characteristics like their size, what they are made of, and the way they react in the body.

Nanotechnology has been around for a while, but scientists and researchers are constantly working on new ways to implement them in fields like cancer-prevention and medicine use. Maybe in the next few years, nanotechnology will be a huge part of our daily life!

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