ColumnCurrent State of Nanobiotechnology Research and MEMS
Yoshinobu Baba, Professor, Nagoya University, Director of Nanobio Research, Health Technology
Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
energy by applying mechanical energy to a single-molecule
motor. Moreover, it is also becoming possible to use MEMS toconduct research into cell patterning (used in cell manipulationand regenerative medicine) and so on.

Nano-bio research is currently attracting a great deal ofattention in fields ranging from basic science and key
technology fields (such as electricity, electronics, machine,physics, chemistry and life sciences) to biotechnology, medicine
and pharmaceutical research. 1) - 4) Nano-bio research falls into
two broad research categories: nanobiology (also known as
nano-bioscience), a research field of life science using
nanotechnology, and nano-biotechnology, a research fieldcreated through the integration of biotechnology with
nanobiotechnology. (Fig. 1)

There has been considerable progress in nano-bio researchin recent years, particularly in terms of the creation of researchdomains in which research would be impossible without
nanobiotechnology. Achievements in nano-bio research are
currently having a tremendous impact on the life sciences, tothe extent of rewriting what we know as common knowledge
about the life sciences. Moreover, most of this new research has
been created as a result of the deployment of MEMS in
nanobiotechnological research. However, the use of MEMS in
nanobiotechnological research has just begun, and most of thetechnologies produced through MEMS are not yet being appliedin nanobiotechnological research. In the future, the deploymentof various MEMS technologies in nanobiotechnological research
will bring about a technological revolution in the life sciences,
as well as in medical treatment and pharmaceutical research.
These technologies are expected to help us solve the mysteriesof life and aid in further progress in medical treatment andpharmaceutical research.

Nanobiology involves research to determine the properties
and structure of biological molecules at the single molecule
level, as well as research into primarily molecular motors andbiomachines and other molecular assemblies and intracellularbioreaction imaging and so on. Nanobiotechnology is rapidly
expanding from basic technologies such as gene expression andprotein measurement technologies using chips, sensors andMEMS to application fields such as medical diagnosis
technologies, nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems, genetherapy, systems engineering, regenerative medicine andnanomedicine. (Fig. 2) Moreover, with the recent progress in
MEMS and nanotechnology, research is expanding in thedomain that fuses nanobiotechnology with nanobiology.

1) Baba, Yoshinobu ed. “Nanotechnology and medical treatment”
Nippon Rinsho, February 2006)
2) Baba, Yoshinobu ed. “Isolation and measurement technologies in
the nanotechnology and biotechnology
MEMS era” (CMC Publishing Co., Ltd., 2006)
3) Baba, Yoshinobu ed. “Nanobiology: Using nanotechnology totransform biology” (Cellular Engineering,August 2006)
4) Baba, Yoshinobu ed. “New directions in nanobiotechnologicalresearch made possible by chemistry”(Modern Chemistry, November 2006)

Effective use of MEMS technology is becoming an important
key to successful nano-bio research, particularly in thecurrently active research domain that fuses nanobiology andnanobiotechnology. Up to now, molecules and molecularassemblies were the principal target of nano-bio research.
However, MEMS is also coming to play an extremely importantrole in research into more complex systems such as cells andstructures. For example, with MEMS it is possible to analyze
the single-molecule gene expression information inside a single
cell, something heretofore thought to be impossible. It is also
now possible to study techniques for producing chemical

Nanobiology

Nanobiotechnology

Molecular structures/ function analysis
Single-molecule imaging
Single-molecule mechanics/ manipulation
Molecular assemblies/ biomachines
Single-cell manipulation
Intracellular imaging
Intracellular trafficking

Microspace reaction/manipulation
Mechanical - biochemicalenergy conversion
Quantum dot imaging
Cellular devices/
regenerative medicine
Nanodevice molecularmanipulation

Nanodevices / micro-TAS
Bio-MEMS / molecular manipulation
Biochips / biosensors
Bio-imaging
Nanomaterials / quantum materials
Nano-DDS
Tissue engineering
Regenerative medicine

Fig. 1 Nano-bio research domains
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hi

methoxy head
PEG shell

500 nm
PLA core

200 nmpillar

50 nm

Fig. 2 Nanobiotechnologies studied by the Groupa. Nanopillar, b. Nanobowl, c. Nanofiber, d. Quantum dot, e. Quantum dot cluster
f. Biodevice, g. Monomolecular imaging, h. Nanotweezers, i. Intracellular molecular imaging

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