Biointerface
The behavior of complex macromolecular systems at materials interfaces are important in the fields of biology, biotechnology, diagnostics, and medicine.Biointerface science is a multidisciplinary field in which biochemists who synthesize novel classes of biomolecules (peptide nucleic acids, peptidomimetics, aptamers, ribozymes, and engineered proteins) cooperate with scientists who have developed the tools to position biomolecules with molecular precision (proximal probe methods, nano-and micro contact methods, e-beam and X-ray lithography, and bottom up self-assembly methods), scientists who have developed new spectroscopic techniques to interrogate these molecules at the solid-liquid interface, and people who integrate these into functional devices (applied physicists, analytical chemists and bioengineers).[2] Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Related fields for biointerfaces are biomineralization, biosensors, medical implants, and so forth.For example, gold nanoparticles are often functionalized in order to act as drug delivery agents for cancers because their size allows them to collect at tumor sites passively.These sensors have the ability to be inserted into cells with minimal invasiveness making them in some ways preferable to traditional biosensors like fluorescent dyes, as well as other nanoparticles which require target labelling.