What do you understand by nanotechnology and how is it helping in health sector? (UPSC IAS Mains 2020 General Studies Paper – 3)
Nanotechnology is the use and the development of techniques to study physical phenomena and develop new material and devices structures in the physical size ranging from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). Nanotechnology influences almost all areas of our lives, including manufacturing, electronics, computers and information technologies, medicine, the environment and energy storage, chemical and biological technologies, and agriculture.
Contribution of nanotechnology in health sector
- Nanomedicine, the application of nanotechnology in medicine helps in producing precise solutions for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
- Nanotechnology has broadened itself in the areas of medical tools, knowledge, and therapies currently available to clinicians.
- Better imagining and diagnostic tools enabled by nanotechnology are paving the way for earlier diagnosis, more individualized treatment options, and better therapeutic success rates.
- Nanotechnology in medicine currently being developed involves employing nanoparticles to deliver drugs, heat, light or other substances to specific types of cells (such as cancer cells). This technique reduces damage to healthy cells in the body and allows for earlier detection of disease.
- In contrast to dialysis, which works on the principle of the size related diffusion of solutes and ultrafiltration of fluid across a semi-permeable membrane, the purification with nanoparticles allows specific targeting of substances. Additionally, larger compounds which are commonly not dialyzable can be removed.
Because of their small size, much concern has been expressed about the potential for adverse health effects arising from the ability of nanoparticles to penetrate cell walls and the blood-brain barrier. Therefore, there is a need to identify key gaps in knowledge and areas where further research may be targeted to efficiently exploit the technology.
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