Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 11
Nanobiotechnology: Scope and Potential
for Crop Improvement
Faheem Ahmed, Nishat Arshi, Shalendra Kumar, Sarvajeet Singh Gill,
Ritu Gill, Narendra Tuteja and Bon Heun Koo
1 Introduction
1.1 Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is manufacturing at the molecular level—building things from
nanoscale components, where unique phenomena enable novel applications. Na-
nos: Greek term for dwarf, Technology: visualize, characterize, produce and ma-
nipulate matter of the size of 1-100 nm (Ball et al.
2002
). In layman's language,
nanotechnology is the science behind the intentional creation, manipulation, and
characterization of extremely small particles and macro molecules. Nanotechnol-
ogy proposes the construction of novel nanoscale devices possessing extraordinary
properties. The chemical, physical, and biological properties of materials differ in
fundamental and valuable ways from those of individual atoms, molecules, or bulk
matter (Nel et al.
2006
). To get an idea of the size of particles that nanotechnol-
ogy encompasses, consider some comparisons. A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth
of a meter. A typical sheet of paper is about 100,000 nm thick, a red blood cell is
about 2,000-5,000 nm in size, and the diameter of DNA is in the range of 2.5 nm.
The size range of highest interest in the field of nanotechnology is from 1-100 nm
(Maynard et al.
2006
), so nanotechnology deals with matter that ranges from one-
