Advanced Materials Letters

Abstract

Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary science comprising of various disciplines such as physics, chemistry, electronics, material science, health science, biology and veterinary science. The ability to manufacture and manipulate material at nanoscale has offered opportunities to interface biological systems with outer world in new ways and with unprecedented precision. Veterinary science deals with all non human animals including wildlife and domesticated animals, livestock, working animals and companion animals. Nanotechnology has contributed in revolutionizing health and veterinary sciences by providing new tools and new materials for molecular and cellular biology that are beneficial for living organisms. The variety of nanomaterials that are used for diagnosis and treatment include metallic nanoparticle, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, magnetic nanoparticles, fullerenes, liposomes, dendrimers and engineered hybrid nanoparticles. However, at present, little data is available on the ecotoxicological and toxicological effects associated with these nanomaterials and hence there is a need to address these issues as physiological properties of nanomaterials are expected to influence their biological response. It is believed that in the upcoming years, nanotechnology will reform the science and technology of the animal health and will help to boost up the livestock production. Nanotechnology based techniques like bioanalytical nanosensors, nanofluidics, targeted drug delivery etc has the potential to solve problems related to diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In this review, we emphasize on how nanotechnology is swiftly changing the diagnosis and treatment patterns at faster and low cost in less time duration. There can be numerous applications of nanotechnology in disease diagnosis, treatment, drug delivery, animal nutrition, animal breeding, tissue engineering and animal identity verification. The role of nanotechnology in veterinary sciences is chiefly discussed as how nanomaterials can modernize the present life.