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25 Nanobiotechnology – A Green Solution

role here. “Intelligent nanocoatings” developed can help to indicate presence

of contaminations during the storage of food items. Active packaging contains

specific molecules that create a passive barrier to oxidative, photolytic, hydrolytic

deteoriations and also release antioxidants and antimicrobials thus ensuring dual

stability [16, 19–25].

25.3.2

Health, Medicine, Drug Delivery, and Pharmaceuticals

Green nanotechnology provides a cost-effective, rapid technology in drug delivery,

diagnostics, new drug development strategies, etc. Nanotechnologies provide

options for advanced medical treatment like repairing of DNA and cellular damage,

customized drug delivery. Green nanotechnology provides the basis of sustainable

health treatment. This has given rise to “nanomedicine” that employs the science

and technology of “nano” in the field of biomedicine. Nanosensors are used for the

purpose of medical diagnosis. Pharmaceutics and green nanotechnology combined

hands to develop “nanorobots.” Patients can ingest these programmed nanorobots

in drinks and beverages. These nanorobots can perform sophisticated, most delicate

surgeries not leaving any scar marks as like the conventional surgical procedure.

Nanorobots also find great applications in cosmetic surgeries and can aid in gene

manipulation altering the physical appearance of individuals as per personalized

demands. Nanoparticle-based drug delivery has developed a range of formulations,

e.g. nanoemulsions, micelles, liposomes, dendrimers, niosomes, and solid lipid

nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles play a crucial role in sustained release drug

delivery systems [16, 26–31].

Although the immense potency of phytomedicine is evidence-based, the phar-

maceutical companies are still hesitant to invest capital in screening of novel

chemical entities of natural origin. But plant secondary metabolites have exhibited

a wide range of pharmacological actions (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidi-

abetic, antimicrobial, etc.) as well as preventive and curative potentials against

several communicable, noncommunicable, infectious diseases, and life-threatening

diseases like cancer. The abovementioned nanoparticle-based formulations find

extensive uses in phytoformulation research. Pharmaceutical companies have

their own research wings focused on nano-based drug delivery systems. Different

encapsulation technologies are being applied in formulating the nano scale devices

for delivery of therapeutic entities and other chemical components. Metallic

nanoparticles, e.g. AgNPs encapsulating different herbal bioactives and synthetic

drugs are available. AgNPs have potential antimicrobial effects as silver ions are

toxic to microbes. In vitro cell culture study results have shown that AgNP have

potential cytotoxic effects against leukemia cells and a number of other cancerous

cell lines, viz. hepatic carcinoma cell lines, squamous cell lung carcinoma cells,

human alveolar cell line, melanoma cell line, etc. [20, 27, 29, 30]. Gold nanoparti-

cles (AuNPs) are used not only for the delivery of therapeutics but also in genetic

engineering, as biosensors, delivery of antibacterials, in hyperthermia therapy,

etc. Herbal bioactive-loaded nanoparticles have been formulated where either the

standardized plant extract have been encapsulated or isolated plant secondary