Nanotoxicity: Aspects and Concerns in Biological Systems

Nanotechnology is one of the key technologies of the twenty-first century and involves materials that exist in nanometer scale in terms of size. As important biological entities like proteins, viruses, segments of DNA, etc. are similar in size to nanomaterials, the latter exhibit strong interactions with biological systems. Since living organisms are constantly exposed to nanomaterials, it is inevitable that researchers will study the short- and long-term effects of any possible toxicity originating from nanomaterials. In this chapter, different aspects of nanotoxicity, including the entry, biodistribution, and fate of nanomaterials in living organisms have been discussed. As microbes are a key component of the ecosystem and the food chain, the effect of nanotechnology in the microbial world has also been explored. Irrespective of bacteria or developed mammalian systems, the finer aspects and concerns of nanotoxicity appear to be concentric and interconnected at both ends of the ecology. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.