0940 - 1020 Bing Xu

Progress and challenges of biological applications of multifunctional nanoparticles

The rapid development of nanotechnology and molecular biology has generated exciting opportunities for the applications of nanomaterials in biomedicine. Magnetic nanoparticles are well-established nanomaterials that offer controlled size, ability to be manipulated externally, and enhancement of contrast in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). As a result, these nanoparticles could have many applications in biology and medicine, including protein purification, drug delivery, and medical imaging. Because of the potential benefits of multimodal functionality in biomedical applications, researchers would like to design and fabricate multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles. 

In this talk, we review examples of the design and biomedical application of multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles. These results indicate that such nanoparticles could be applied to biological problems such as bacterial detection, protein purification, and toxin decorporation. The hybrid nanostructures, which combine magnetic nanoparticles with other nanocomponents, exhibit paramagnetism alongside features such as fluorescence or enhanced optical contrast. Such structures could provide a platform for enhanced medical imaging and controlled drug delivery. Besides illustrating the new opportunities presented by multifunctional nanomaterials, we will also discuss the challenges that have yet to be met.