Mapping the nanobiotechnology landscape in medical–engineering convergence: toward AI-empowered translation
Year: 2026
Type: editorial
Abstract: A data-driven literature landscape analysis identifies nanobiotechnology as an emerging frontier in medical–engineering convergence. The field encompasses optical, electrical, magnetic, mechanical, interfacial and catalytic technologies that operate at biologically relevant length scales and support sensing and imaging, biointerfaces, human-relevant models and therapeutic intervention. Clinical successes in liposomal drugs, small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics formulated in lipid nanoparticles and messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines delivered using lipid nanoparticles show that translation is achievable when mechanism, formulation, manufacturing, safety and use case are aligned. Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a cross-cutting tool for integrating multimodal data, guiding design and process optimisation, inferring partially observed biological processes and supporting quality control. This Perspective maps the technical breadth of nanobiotechnology and outlines a possible set of future directions and cross-cutting scientific and engineering questions for developing measurable, manufacturable, verifiable and clinically interpretable capabilities.
Source: Nano Biomedicine and Engineering
Language: English
Subfield: General Materials Science
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225187880