Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 JBIC Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry https://doi.org/10.1007/s00775-018-1600-6 MINIREVIEW Potential applications of engineered nanoparticles in medicine and biology: an update Gudepalya Renukaiah Rudramurthy 1  · Mallappa Kumara Swamy 2 Received: 30 April 2018 / Accepted: 26 July 2018 © SBIC 2018 Abstract Nanotechnology advancements have led to the development of its allied felds, such as nanoparticle synthesis and their applications in the feld of biomedicine. Nanotechnology driven innovations have given a hope to the patients as well as physicians in solving the complex medical problems. Nanoparticles with a size ranging from 0.2 to 100 nm are associated with an increased surface to volume ratio. Moreover, the physico-chemical and biological properties of nanoparticles can be modifed depending on the applications. Diferent nanoparticles have been documented with a wide range of applications in various felds of medicine and biology including cancer therapy, drug delivery, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, biomolecules detection, and also as antimicrobial agents. However, the development of stable and efective nanoparticles requires a profound knowledge on both physico-chemical features of nanomaterials and their intended applications. Further, the health risks associated with the use of engineered nanoparticles needs a serious attention. Graphical Abstract Keywords Biomedicine · Biomolecule detection · Cancer therapy · Drug delivery · Engineered nanoparticles · Regenerative medicine · Tissue engineering Introduction The multidisciplinary unit, comprising the principles of physics, chemistry, engineering and biology to design and synthesize the nanoscale materials or devices is termed as nanotechnology. Nanotechnology deals with the develop- ment of nanoscale sized objects including materials, devices * Gudepalya Renukaiah Rudramurthy murthygr123@gmail.com * Mallappa Kumara Swamy swamy.bio@gmail.comAfliations 1 Department of Biotechnology, East West College of Science, Bengaluru 560091, Karnataka, India 2 Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia