The Role of Nanobiotechnology in the Development of Personalized Medicine

limits of diagnostics for presymptomatic diagnosis and preemptive treatment of some diseases. Nanobiotechnology techniques provide an analysis of DNA and protein and could dramatically improve speed, accuracy and sensitivity compared to conventional molecular diagnostic methods [5] . Nanobiotechnologybased approaches can provide more precise measurements and insight into nanoscale inherent functional components of living cells. Nanobiotechnology facilitates point-of-care diagnosis and the integration of diagnostics with therapeutics, thus advancing the development of personalized medicine. Molecular imaging requires an accumulation of contrast agent in the target site, often most efficiently achieved by steering nanoparticles containing contrast agent to the target. For imaging modalities with low sensitivity, nanoparticles bearing multiple contrast groups provide signal amplification. The same nanoparticles can deliver both contrast medium and drug, allowing monitoring of biodistribution and therapeutic activity simultaneously. Nanoparticles share functions such as target recognition and binding with many subcellular organelles such as ribosomes, proteasomes, ion channels and transport vesicles which are of similar sizes. The materials used to synthesize nanoparticles include natural proteins and polyPersonalized medicine is defined as the prescription of specific treatments best suited for an individual taking into consideration both genetic and other factors that influence the response to therapy [1] . Personalized medicine is the best approach to integrate new biotechnologies into medicine in order to improve understanding of the pathomechanism of diseases, molecular diagnosis and integration with therapeutics. Nanomedicine is defined as the application of nanobiotechnology to medicine [2] . Nanobiotechnology also makes important contributions to personalized medicine through refinement of various technologies used for diagnostics and therapeutics as well as interactions among these, as shown in figure 1 [3] . Nanobiotechnologies provide refinements in drug discovery and formulations for targeted drug delivery. Molecular biomarkers, defined as cellular alterations to a cell at DNA, RNA, metabolite or protein levels, serve as common reference points for diagnosis and therapeutics [4] . Biomarkers have been discovered by nanobiotechnology-based approaches and not only serve as indicators of various diseases, but also guide therapeutics, thus enabling personalization of treatment. Single molecules of biomarkers, bacteria and viruses have been detected by nanobiotechnology-based assays, and they extend the Received: March 31, 2010 Accepted: April 25, 2010