Nanoscience: Nanobiotechnology And Nanobiology

Nanoscience P. Boisseau (Eds.) • P. Houdy • M. Lahmani Nanoscience Nanobiotechnology and Nanobiology With 628 Figures and 40 Tables 123 Editors Patrick Boisseau CEA LETI-MINATEC 17 rue des martyrs 38054 Grenoble CX 9 France [email protected] Prof. Philippe Houdy Université d’Evry bd. F. Mitterrand 91025 Evry CX France [email protected] Marcel Lahmani Université d’Evry Dépt. Sciences des Matériaux rue du père Jarlan 91025 Evry CX France [email protected] Translation from the French language edition of “Les nanosciences – 3. Nanobiotechnologies et nanobiologie” c 2007 Editions Belin, France  ISBN 978-3-540-88632-7 e-ISBN 978-3-540-88633-4 DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-88633-4 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009926250 c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010  This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: WMX Design GmbH Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Foreword to the French Edition The Living Nanoworld The slogan ‘small is beautiful’ is perfectly suited to the field of biology. The human body is composed of about five thousand billion cells, each of which functions by virtue of a whole range of nanoscale phenomena and nanomachines. The perfect harmony of the information systems and molecular devices at work in our cells is today a fertile source of inspiration for scientists engaged in the development of nanotechnology and nanomaterials. Within a volume of a few picoliters, DNA stores absolutely all the genetic information required to program embryonic development, cell differentiation, and the functioning of living organisms. It also contains all the machinery and molecular systems needed to replicate this information and distribute it to daughter cells during cell division. Exchanges between the interior of a cell and its environment, but also between the different compartments of a given cell, occur via a whole system of