Nanobionic

s
Dr Ahson J Shaikh
Bionics
• Bionics or biologically inspired engineering is the application of biological
methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of
engineering systems and modern technology.
• The word bionic was coined by Jack E. Steele in August 1958, being formed
as a portmanteau from biology and electronics.
• The transfer of technology between lifeforms and manufactured objects is
desirable because evolutionary pressure typically forces living organisms,
including fauna and flora, to become highly optimized and efficient.
• A classical example is the development of dirt- and water-repellent paint
(coating) from the observation that practically nothing sticks to the surface
of the lotus flower plant (the lotus effect)
Bionics
• The term "biomimetic" is preferred when the reference is made to
chemical reactions.
• In that domain, biomimetic chemistry refers to reactions that, in
nature, involve biological macromolecules (e.g. enzymes or nucleic
acids) whose chemistry can be replicated in vitro using much smaller
molecules.
• Examples of bionics in engineering include the hulls of boats (main
body) imitating the thick skin of dolphins; sonar, radar, and medical
ultrasound imaging imitating animal echolocation.
Bionics
• In the field of computer science, the study of bionics has produced
artificial neurons, artificial neural networks, and swarm intelligence.
• Evolutionary computation was also motivated by bionics ideas, but it
took the idea further by simulating evolution in silico and producing
well-optimized solutions that had never appeared in nature.

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Swarm_intelligence
Bionics
There are generally three biological levels in the fauna or flora, after
which technology can be modeled:

• Mimicking natural methods of manufacture

• Imitating mechanisms found in nature (e.g. velcro)
• Studying organizational principles from the social behaviour of
organisms, such as the flocking behaviour of birds, optimization of
ant foraging and bee foraging, and the swarm intelligence (SI)-based
behaviour of a school of fish.
Examples
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bionics

Homework
Biomimetics or Bionics
• Is the study of the structure and function of biological systems as
models for the design and engineering of materials and machines.
• It is widely regarded as being synonymous with biomimicry,
biomimesis, biognosis and similar to biologically inspired design.
• Biomimetic refers to human-made processes, substances, devices, or
systems that imitate nature.
• The art and science of designing and building biomimetic apparatus is
called biomimetics, and is of special interest to researchers in
nanotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), the medical
industry, and the military.
• Some biomimetic processes have been in use for years.
• An example is the artificial synthesis of certain vitamins and
antibiotics.
• More recently, biomimetics have been suggested as applicable in the
design of machine vision systems, machine hearing systems, signal
amplifiers, navigational systems, and data converters.
• Other possible applications of biomimetics include nanorobot
antibodies that seek and destroy disease-causing bacteria, artificial
organs, artificial arms, legs, hands, and feet, and various electronic
devices.
• One of the more intriguing ideas is the so-called biochip, a
microprocessor that grows from a starter crystal in much the same
way that a seed grows into a tree, or a fertilized egg grows into an
embryo.
Plant Nanobionics
• The plant nanobionics is an emerging field of bioengineering which
alters the functioning of the plant tissue or organelle by introducing
nanoparticles into the cells and chloroplasts of living plants.
• The key idea in plant nanobionics is the endowment of supernatural
powers to plant which once upon a time seemed to be some kind of
fairy tale like using plant as a light source, etc.
• Plants are now being exploited for nanobionic purposes due to their
exceptional capability to produce energy from sunlight and
photosynthesis.
• Now the scientists of nanobiotechnology area are coming up with war
footing to construct nanobionic plants with more efficient
photosynthesizing capability and powerful sensors to sense nano
level biochemicals in an area.
Plant Nanobionics: A Novel Approach to
Overcome the Environmental Challenges

• The broader vision is to create a wide array of wild-type plants

capable of imaging objects in their environment, self-powering
themselves as light sources, infrared communication devices, and also
function as self-powered ground water sensors.
Plant nanobionics, the science of super-
powered plants
• Science is being able to provide plants with non-native powers that
are, in principle, supernatural to them: explosive-detecting spinach,
species capable of withstanding extreme temperatures, vegetables
sensitive to metal presence.
• These plants were modified by embedding in their leaves carbon
nanotube devices capable of detecting chemical compounds present
in anti-personnel and other types of landmines.
• When one of these chemicals is present in the groundwater sampled
naturally by the plant, carbon nanotubes embedded in the leaves
emit a fluorescent signal that can be read with an infrared camera.
This camera is, in turn, connected to a mobile device which eventually
sends an alert to the user.
• It is one of the first demonstrations of electronic system integration
into plants.
• This approach, dubbed plant nanobionics or, in other words, super-
plant engineering, is becoming increasingly relevant.
• Great expectations are placed on plant nanobionics in order to tackle
issues such as pollution.
• Genetic or structural modifications and the plants´ ability to collect
soil information promptly, species capable of detecting pollutants
could be created, thus providing us with the ability to plan ahead
against greater potential problems.
• Same happens with bioremediation, a discipline dedicated to recover
soils that have been altered by diverse unfavourable environmental
conditions, which could find invaluable help in nanobionic, genetically
modified plants.
• At MIT, scientists have developed plants with enhanced
photosynthetic capability by embedding nanostructures inside their
cells, allowing these not only to absorb 30% more energy from
sunlight, but also to detect pollutants.

• This is precisely one of the principles of nanobionics: to devise sensors

that, incorporated into plants, could allow us to monitor pesticide use
alternatively and effectively, discover infections due to fungi or
bacterial toxins, and who knows how many more applications.
• Nano Engineered Material (NEM) based nanosensors are important
tools for monitoring plant signaling pathways and metabolism that are
nondestructive, minimally invasive, and can provide real-time analysis
of biotic and abiotic threats for better plant health.
• These sensors can measure chemical flux even at the single molecule
level.
• Plant health could be monitored through nutrient management,
disease assessment, plant hormones level, environmental pollution,
etc.
• Precision agriculture, urban farming, and plant nanobionics adopt a
sustainable approach in agriculture.
Nanobionics
Lecture 2
Dr Ahson J Shaikh
Plant Nanobionics
• Interface between living plants and nanotechnology to impart the
plants with novel and useful functions.
• The structural merits of plant organs and organelles have also
inspired the creation of plant‐derived structures through
biointerfacing with nanoparticles containing electronic and optical
properties.
• Applications in environmental sensing, communication devices, and
energy harvesting and conversion.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/admt.201900657
Developing Plants with Improved
Photosynthetic Capacity
• Nanobionic plants are developed by the facilitated kinetic trapping of
nanomaterials within photosynthetic organelle (chloroplast).
• The trapping of nanomaterials/nanotubes improved chloroplast
carbon capture (photosynthesis) by improving chloroplast solar
energy harnessing and electron transport rate.
• Nanotubes like poly(acrylic acid) nanoceria (PAA-NC) and single-
walled nanotube-nanoceria (SWNT-NC) decrease the amount of
reactive oxygen species (ROS) inside extracted chloroplast and
influence the sensing process in plants, which are beneficial for a
number of physiological processes.

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.76815
• With nanobiotechnological advancement, plants are capable of
• Imaging objects in their environment
• Self-powering themselves as light sources
• Communicating with infrared devices and
• Self-powered groundwater sensors developed
• The solar energy harnessing and biochemical sensing can be
improved in plants by introducing nanomaterial in them
• Nanobionic plants are developed for enhanced photosynthesis and
biochemical sensing.
• The engineered carbon nanotubes are shown to boost seed
germination, growth and development in plants.
Entry of nanoparticles in plant cells
• Cell wall possesses pores which provide sieving properties to cell
walls, and this range from 5 to 20 nm.
• Nanoparticles or aggregates of nanoparticles with a diameter less
than the pore diameter of the cell wall could pass through pores and
can reach the plasma membrane.
• There is additionally a chance for the enlargement of pores or the
induction of new cell wall pores upon interaction with engineered
nanoparticles which in turn enhance nanoparticle uptake.
• Further internalization of nanoparticles or aggregates of
nanoparticles occurs through endocytosis by forming a cavity-like
structure surrounding the nanoparticles by a plasma membrane.
Entry of nanoparticles in plant cells
• NPs may cross the membrane via carrier proteins or through ion
channels.
• In the cytoplasm, the nanoparticles may bind with different
cytoplasmic organelles and interfere with the metabolic processes.
• In leaf surface applied nanoparticles, the nanoparticles enter through
the stomatal apertures or through the bases of trichomes and
thereafter get translocated to tissues.
• The nanoparticles penetrate the plant cell wall and enter into the
space between plant cell wall and plasma membrane due to small
size, capillary action and Van der Waals forces.
Nanobionics and nanoengineered prosthetics
• Utilization of nanocarriers in drug delivery systems has been the main
concern of researchers and pharmaceutical developers.
• One of the most interesting drug delivery systems is the implantable
delivery system.
• Implants are introduced into the body for a number of reasons; many
implants are prosthetics, intended to replace missing body parts,
while other implants are used to monitor bodily functions, provide an
anchor for organs and tissues and, most importantly, deliver drugs.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128136652000144
Medical bionic devices
• The use of nanoparticles in implantable delivery systems and
prosthetics has improved their action and prevented a number of
problems, including dislocation of the implant or infections around
the site of the prosthetic.
• Nanoparticles are ideal for engineering prosthetics and implants
because they function at the same level of the body cells.
Implantable medical bionic devices
• The nexus of any bionic device can be found at the electrode–cellular
interface.
• Overall efficiency is determined by our ability to transfer electronic
information across that interface.
• The nanostructure imparted to electrodes plays a critical role in controlling
the cascade of events that determines the composition and structure of
that interface.
• With commonly used conductors: metals, carbon and organic conducting
polymers, a number of approaches that promote control over structure in
the nanodomain have emerged in recent years with subsequent studies
revealing a critical dependency between nanostructure and cellular
behaviour.

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2012/NR/c2nr30758h#!divAbstract
Implantable medical bionic devices
• As we continue to develop our understanding of how to create and
characterize electro materials in the nanodomain, this is expected to
have a profound effect on the development of next generation bionic
devices.
• Fabrication of nanostructured electrodes present new opportunities
in the field of medical bionics.
• Living cells interact with the nanostructured electromaterials
• New tools are developed for nanofabrication and nano-
characterization of the electrode–cellular interface.
Nitroaromatic detection and infrared communication from wild-type plants using plant nanobionics
• Microbial Nanobionics
• Fungal Nanobionics

Nanowires and their

Biological
Applications
Dr Ahson J Shaikh
Nanowire
• Nanostructure with the diameter in the order of a nanometer (10−9m).
• Also defined as the ratio of the length to width being greater than 1000.
• Structures that have a thickness or diameter constrained to tens of nanometers
or less and an unconstrained length.
• Quantum mechanical effects are present, hence the term "quantum wires“
• Many different types of nanowires exist, including
• superconducting (e.g. Yttrium barium copper oxide)
• Metallic (e.g. Ni, Pt, Au, Ag)
• Semiconducting (e.g. silicon nanowires (SiNWs), InP, GaN)
• Insulating (e.g. SiO2, TiO2).
• Molecular nanowires are composed of repeating molecular units either organic
(e.g. DNA) or inorganic (e.g. Mo6S9−xIx).
• Mo6S9−xIx can have diameter of 0.9 nm and be hundreds of micrometers long.
Nanowire
• Often referred to as one-dimensional (1-D) materials.
• Nanowires have many interesting properties that are not seen in bulk or 3-
D (three-dimensional) materials.
• Electrons in nanowires are quantum confined laterally and thus occupy
energy levels that are different from the traditional continuum of energy
levels or bands found in bulk materials.
• Quantum confinement result in discrete values of electrical conductance
(certain nanowires).
• These discrete values arise from a quantum mechanical restraint on the
number of electrons that can travel through the wire at the nanometer
scale.
• These discrete values are often referred to as the quantum of conductance
Applications
• Important in electronic, opto-electronic and nanoelectromechanical
devices
• Used as additives in advanced composites, for metallic interconnects
in nanoscale quantum devices
• leads for biomolecular nanosensors.
DNA-templated metallic nanowire synthesis
• An emerging field is to use DNA strands as scaffolds (temporary
structure) for metallic nanowire synthesis, used in electronic
components.
• Investigated for biosensing applications, in which the transduction of
a DNA strand into a metallic nanowire can be electrically detected.
• Typically, ssDNA strands are stretched and decorated with metallic
nanoparticles that have been functionalized with short
complementary ssDNA strands.
Sensing of proteins and chemicals using
semiconductor nanowires
• FET (Field Effect Transistors): Devices in which the modulation of
conductance (flow of electrons/holes) in the semiconductor, between
the input (source) and the output (drain) terminals, is controlled by
electrostatic potential variation (gate-electrode) of the charge carriers
in the device conduction channel
Sensing of proteins and chemicals using
semiconductor nanowires
• The methodology of a Bio/Chem-FET is based on the detection of the
local change in charge density, or so-called “field effect”, that
characterizes the recognition event between a target molecule and
the surface receptor.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fchem.2020.00517/full
Sensing of proteins and chemicals using
semiconductor nanowires
• Change in the surface potential influences the Chem-FET device exactly as
a ‘gate’ voltage does, leading to a detectable and measurable change in the
device conduction. When these devices are fabricated using semiconductor
nanowires as the transistor element the binding of a chemical or biological
species to the surface of the sensor can lead to the depletion or
accumulation of charge carriers in the "bulk" of the nanometer diameter
nanowire i.e. (small cross section available for conduction channels).
• The wire, which serves as a tunable conducting channel, is in close contact
with the sensing environment of the target, leading to a short response
time, along with orders of magnitude increase in the sensitivity of the
device as a result of the huge S/V ratio of the nanowires.
Sensing of proteins and chemicals using
semiconductor nanowires
• While several inorganic semiconducting materials such as Si, Ge, and metal
oxides (e.g. In2O3, SnO2, ZnO, etc.) have been used for the preparation of
nanowires, Si is usually the material of choice when fabricating nanowire
FET-based chemo/biosensors.
• Several examples of the use of silicon nanowire(SiNW) sensing devices
include the ultra sensitive, real-time sensing of biomarker proteins for
cancer, detection of single virus particles, and the detection of nitro-
aromatic explosive materials such as 2,4,6 Tri-nitrotoluene (TNT) in
sensitives superior to these of canines.
• Silicon nanowires could also be used in their twisted form, as
electromechanical devices, to measure intermolecular forces with great
precision.
Interfaces between
Nanoelectronic &
Biological systems
Dr Ahson J Shaikh
Biophysics
• Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and
methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena.
• Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular
to organismic and populations.
• Biophysical research shares significant overlap with biochemistry,
molecular biology, physical chemistry, physiology, nanotechnology,
bioengineering, computational biology, biomechanics, developmental
biology and systems biology.
• Indicate the study of the physical quantities (e.g. electric
current, temperature, stress, entropy) in biological systems
Interfaces between Nanoelectronic &
Biological systems
Madkour L.H. (2019) Interfacing Biology Systems with Nanoelectronics for Nanodevices. In: Nanoelectronic Materials. Advanced
Structured Materials, vol 116. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21621-4_17
Tian, B., Liu, J., Dvir, T. et al. Macroporous nanowire nanoelectronic scaffolds for synthetic tissues. Nature Mater 11, 986–994
(2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3404
A Bio-Nanowire Device Interface
Because the sizes of biological macromolecules are comparable to nanowire building blocks,
these structures represent natural transducers for ultra-sensitive detection.
https://www.oatext.com/Vision-for-life-sciences-interfaces-between-nanoelectronic-and-biological-systems.php#gsc.tab=0
Nanowire Nanosensors: Beginning
Multiplexed Cancer Marker Detection
Marker proteins are detected selectively in presence of ca. 100-billion-fold excess
of serum proteins.
Serum samples are characterized after single step ‘desalting’purification.
(1) Buffer; (2) Donkey Serum (DS), 59 mg/ml total protein; (3) DS + 2.5 pM PSA; (4) DS + 25 pM PSA
(1) DS + 0.9 pg/ml; (2) DS. Marker proteins are detected selectively in presence of ca. 100-billion-fold excess of
serum proteins.
Nanoelectronic-Biological Interfaces Enables
• Diagnostic devices for disease detection
• General detection & kinetics platform
• New tool for single-molecule detection/biophysics
• Powerful devices for electronic and chem/bio recording from cells,
tissue & organs
• Potential implants for highly functional & powerful prosthetics, as
well as hybrid biomaterials enabling new opportunities
Progress
• Synthetic challenge of controlling structure and composition on many
length scales
• Fundamental scientific questions in 1-dimensional systems
• Central importance of nanoscale wires in integrated nanosystems
• New/novel materials can make revolutionary vs. evolutionary
changes in science and technology!
⇒ Many fundamental scientific questions remain and will require bold
researchers to address.
Nanotechnology machines' interaction with living
systems
Micro/Nanomachines Interacting with Bacteria

• Researchers have developed various strategies based on

micro/nanomachines to detect, isolate, and kill bacteria.
• The development of innovative solutions to treat bacterial diseases is
driven by the urgent demand to change the way we use antibiotics.
Nanomedicine
• Nanomedicine has showcased promising prospect in combating
bacterial infections to relieve the antibiotic-resistant strains. Among
them are:
• – Capture of bacteria by micro/nanomachines with bioreceptors
• – Killing of bacteria by micro- and nanomachines with antimicrobial
agents
• – Killing of bacteria by micro- and nanomachines through
hyperthermia therapy
• – Optical sensing of bacteria by micro/nanomachines
Micro/Nanomachines Based on Biological
Cells
• Nature provides a myriad of sophisticated biological cells that can
display and regulate motion in well-established manners over long
ages of evolution.
• Biohybrid systems integrate these biological cells with synthetic
materials, enabling their corporation to make a bigger difference than
that by working alone.
• The cells used as building blocks include motile cells with direct
swimming ability (e.g., bacteria and spermatozoa), contractile cells
able to generate a directional tension (e.g., cardiac and skeletal
muscle cells), and immune cells bearing intrinsic chemotaxis ability
(e.g., white blood cells).
Chemotaxis: Movement of a motile cell or organism, or part of one, in a direction corresponding to a gradient of increasing or
decreasing concentration of a particular substance.
Micro/Nanomachines toward In Vivo
Applications
• Extraordinary nanotechnology efforts have been devoted to push
micro/nanomachines towards their practical use in in vivo
applications. However, this concept poses many challenges to its
practical operation.
• As a tetherless device, the in vivo navigation of micro/nanomachines
requires either self-propulsion using biocompatible fuels or
propulsion by other noninvasive energy.
Issues
• Due to the foreign nature of the synthetic micro/nanomachines, the
risk of being destroyed by the immune system and the postprocessing
after implementing tasks are crucial problems that cannot be
neglected.
• Addressing these issues requires solutions to four distinct problem
areas of micro- and nanomachines:
• – Fuel consideration
• – Power source
• – Biodegradability
• – Immunogenicity of micro/nanomachines
Micro/Nanomachines toward Intracellular
Applications
• With traditional medical technology, it is difficult to perform operations at
cellular level. The ultrasmall dimensions and tetherless design enable the
micro/nanomachines to interfere cellular processes.
• Examples of currently available cellular tasks include intracellular sensing
of endogenous targets, genetic intervention, controlled delivery and
release of desired compounds such as drug, enzyme, cytokine, and so on.
• "Despite the tremendous progress obtained in recent years, the
micro/nanomachines are far from mature in both theory and applications".
• "To push forward in-depth applications of micro/nanomachines in
biosystems, improvement is still needed in many aspects."