Nanomedicine: Revolutionary Interdiscipline

Nanomedicine is one of the most dynamic, lucrative and productive contemporary research streams; it is playing an intimate role in the progression of modern medicine through the development of new and highly innovative treatments as well as improving and enhancing established techniques. But what is nanomedicine and why the pomp and ceremony? This chapter aims to dissect nanomedicine with the intention of both defining it as a field and demonstrating its worthiness to receive the title of ‘revolutionary interdiscipline’. With this in mind, the field is introduced as combination of three distinct subsections: nanobiotechnology, nanotechnology and nanobiomimetics, and also through the two main synthetic approaches, top-down and bottom-up, both of which are pivotal in separating the enhancement of existing technology from the development of revolutionary new technology.