Potential Application of Nanoparticles as Antipathogens - Advanced Materials for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Safety - page 332

nanoparticle means a particle with atleast one dimension in the range of
1nm to 100nm. A particle whose diameter is 1nm has approximately 1000
atoms, as atomic size is of the order of an angstrom [1]. h e substance in
nano-regime exhibits a large number of new properties. h e properties
of substances in nanosize are entirely dif erent from the corresponding
bulk or atomic and molecular counterparts. Nanostructures have large
surface-to-volume ratio and show quantum coni nement [2-5]. h e band
gap of a substance in nanorange is higher than in the bulk form. Due
to their small size, nanoparticles can penetrate the cell interior of bac-
teria, fungi, viruses, plant and animal cells, etc. [6-7]. A pathogen is a
microorganism in the widest sense, such as a virus, bacterium, prion,
or fungus that causes disease in its host. h ey are responsible for various
diseases in plants and animals. h ey are responsible for various diseases
in plants and animals and are responsible for millions of diseases, dis-
abilities and deaths every year. h e ability to control or destroy pathogens
is therefore of enormous importance in areas such as healthcare, food,
drink, water treatment, agriculture and the military. Antipathogens are
substances which are used to kill, deactivate and control the pathogens.
Conventionally, Antipathogens are drugs, antibiotics, other microorgan-
isms, etc. Due to increasing resistance in pathogens, the search is on for
new materials and composites. h ere are drawbacks in current therapies,
including drug-induced disease and increasing prevalence of multiple
drug resistant microorganisms. Nanoparticles have immense potential in
biomedicine. h ey can be used for diagnosis, drug delivery system, pre-
vention and as Antipathogens [8-14].
Pathogens may af ect an animal (including humans), a plant, or even
another microorganism. h ere are several substrates including path-
ways whereby pathogens can invade a host. h e principal pathways have
dif erent episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest
or most persistent potential for harboring a pathogen. Diseases caused
by organisms in humans are known as pathogenic diseases. Some of
the diseases that a pathogen can cause are smallpox, inl uenza, mumps,
measles, chickenpox, tuberculosis and rubella. Not all pathogens are
necessarily undesirable to humans.

12.1.1 Types of Pathogens

Viral: Pathogenic viral diseases are mainly caused by the families of
Adenoviridae, Picornaviridae, Herpesviridae, Hepadnaviridae, Flaviviridae,
Retroviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Papovaviridae,