Next-generation nanotech meds: Diagnostic and therapeutic applications of non-organic nanoparticles are making their way into clinical use.

N anoparticles have been used for more than a decade in medicine, one of the more prominent applications being silver particles in wound dressing to prevent infection and local inflammation. Most nanoparticles though are used for drug delivery, a substantial and fast growing market, worth about US$41 billion in 2014 and projected to reach US $118 billion by 2023 (http://www.transpare ncymarketresearch.com/nanotechnologydrug-delivery.html). In most cases, these particles are made of organic molecules to encapsulate therapeutic compounds or to home in on specific cell types such cancer cells. Recently, though, research has taken a growing interest in inorganic nanoparticles and early clinical trials are underway or about to begin soon. The potential applications of inorganic nanoparticles include diagnosis, therapy, or a combination of both for a wide range of degenerative, oncological, infectious and auto-immune or inflammatory diseases. ...................................................... “. . . Nanoparticles often have properties that are different from the same elements or compounds at larger scale. . .” ......................................................