Nanotechnology and Its Implications in the Environmental Biotechnology

Natural and engineered nanomaterials have an impact on the components of the environment at all levels of organizations. It is essential to understand their potential benefits, as well as derogative impacts, on safety and health of the environment. By understanding their interactions one envisages directions to bring an amicable balance within abiotic components and biota of environment. Biocompatibility, bioavailability, bioaccumulation, biomagnifications, metabolic transformations, biopersistance, translocation, and elimination of nanomaterials from the biosystems play significant roles within biosystems. Thus, it is essential to understand interactions among nanomaterials and tissue, cell, cell organelles, macro-, and micromolecules. It also helps to understand the cellular behavior, ontogenic and carcinogenic implications of nanomaterials on biosystems. Dispersion and interaction of nanomaterials within environment affects their behavior in the three major aspects of environment, that is, aquatic, terrestrial and air. The functional aspects of dispersed nanomaterials have potential contribution not only toward interactions of ions, bioaccumulation and biomagnifications in biosystems but also on the food web, food, by-products, chemical and molecular transformation, depending on dose and duration of exposure and so on. The detection of such interactions involves natural sensors or nanobiosensors. This chapter is an effort to highlight the applications of biotechnology and nanotechnology in exploring interactions among nanomaterials, biosystems and the environment. This chapter discusses the applications of biotechnology and nanotechnology in exploring interactions among nanomaterials, biosystems and the environment. Biocompatibility, bioavailability, bioaccumulation, biomagnifications, metabolic transformations, biopersistance, translocation, and elimination of nanomaterials from the biosystems play significant roles within biosystems. The ameliorated nanomaterials like nanosorbents, nanocatalysts, bioactive nanoparticles, nanostructured catalytic membranes, filtration devices facilitated by nanoparticles and other nanomaterials developed based on nanotechnology. The most common nanomaterials involved as remedial agents are nanosorbents, zeolites, redox and catalytically active nanoparticles, nanostructured membranes, bioactive nanoparticles; dendrimers enhanced ultrafiltration; and others in the sensing, detecting and remediation processes. Biotechnolo