Potentialities of bioinspired metal and metal oxide nanoparticles in biomedical sciences

To date, various reports have shown that metallic gold bhasma at the nanoscale form was used as medicine as early as 2500 B.C. in India, China, and Egypt. Owing to their unique physicochemical, biological, and electronic properties, they have broad utilities in energy, environment, agriculture and more recently, the biomedical field. The biomedical domain has been used in drug delivery, imaging, diagnostics, therapeutics, and biosensing applications. In this review, we will discuss and highlight the increasing control over metal and metal oxide nanoparticle structures as smart nanomaterials utilized in the biomedical domain to advance the role of biosynthesized nanoparticles for improving human health through wide applications in the targeted drug delivery, controlled release drug delivery, wound dressing, tissue scaffolding, and medical implants. In addition, we have discussed concerns related to the role of these types of nanoparticles as an anti-viral agent by majorly highlighting the ways to combat the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, along with their prospects.