Nantotechniques and approaches in biotechnology

Nanotechnology has enabled the development of an amazing variety of methods for fabricating nanotopography and nanopatterned chemistry in recent years. Some of these techniques are directed towards producing single component particles, as well as multi-component assembly or self-assembly. Other methods are aimed at nanofeaturing and patterning surfaces that have a specific chemistry or topography. This article concentrates mainly on surface-directed nanobiotechnologies because they are nearer to commercial realisation, such as use in tissue engineering, control of biofouling and cell culture, than those directed at producing nanoparticles.