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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Ann Biomed Eng. 2013 Dec 3;42(2):243–259. doi: 10.1007/s10439-013-0952-x

Figure 1. A nanotechnology toolbox.

Figure 1

(a) Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle probes for multimodality molecular imaging. The iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticle is a T2 contrast agent for MRI, and the addition of a radiotracer makes it a PET contrast agent. With a dye in/on the coating, the nanoparticle is also a fluorescent report. (b) Gold nanoparticle-based SERS probes for biomolecule detection. The gold nanoparticle is encoded with a Raman reporter, and stabilized with a layer of thiol-PEG. (c) Molecular beacons, dual-labeled hairpin oligonucleotide probes for RNA detection in living cells and clinical samples. (e) Targeted liposomes for drug/gene delivery. (f) Targeted magnetic nanocarriers for drug/gene delivery. The T2 contrast of the nanoparticle and the fluorescent report allow tracking of the nanocarrier in vivo. (D) Zinc finger nuclease-based nanomachines for genome editing. The zinc fingers bind to DNA with high specificity, and the nuclease domains of the pair of ZFNs dimerize and cleave DNA, inducing modification of the genome.