Advance and prospect of bionanomaterials

Over the past few years, bionanomaterial science has emerged as a new exciting field in which theoretical and experimental studies of structure and function of bionanomaterials have become a focus, and the importance of DNA, RNA, and peptides as bionanomaterials to the fundamental development in biology and nanomaterials has begun to be recognized. In particular, biochemistry, biophysics, biomechanics, thermodynamics, and electronic properties of DNA, RNA, and peptides, as well as intelligent composite biological materials, have become a new interdisciplinary frontier in life science and material science. There is an increasing need for a more systematic study of the basic issues involved in bionanomaterials and a more active participation of researchers in the application domain of such novel materials. Great advances have been and are being made in nanobiochip materials, nanoscale biomimetic materials, nanomotors, nanocomposite materials, interface biomaterials, and nanobiosensor and nano drug delivery systems, with enormous prospect in industrial, defense, and clinical medicine applications. Here we review some of the main advances in this field over the past few years, explore the application prospects, and discuss the concepts, issues, approaches, and challenges, with the aim of stimulating a broader interest in developing bionanomaterials technology.