1st Announcement

TOPICS

Nanoparticles / Nanocarriers
Nanoparticles /nanocarriers are more and more very important tools in nanobiotechnolgoy and nanomedicine. Their importance is related to targeting systems in oncology but also infections and other diseases, to imaging technologies but also to drug delivery as well as to tansporter systems and cellseparation technologies. Therefore, technologies based on nanoparticels/ nanocarries will be responsible for completely new directions in diagnostics and therapy-strategies in medicine during the coming 5 to10 years.

Nanostructured Materials
Nanostructred materials are of high importance in nanotechnology in general. Related to nanomedicine they are very important tools in regenerative medicine especially tissue engineering which is strongly focused on nanostructured scaffolds. They are also of high relevance in new technologies for blood- and water purification but also in new lab-on-chip and sensor systems. Therefore, their future in life science is orientated to new options in diagnostic and therapy in medicine but also to other fields.

Nanotoxicology
As nanotechnology moves towards widespread commercialization, new technologies and methods are needed to adequately address the potential health impact of nanoparticles. It is still uncertain whether the same properties that make engineered nanoparticles attractive in nanomedicine could also prove harmful when interacting with healthy cells. Although the benefits are clearly established and exploited, limited attempts in the evaluation of potential undesirable long-term effects have been made.

Synthetic Biology
Synthetic biology is a new area of biological research that combines science and engineering in order to design and build novel biological functions and systems. Most important, synthetic biology concerns the synthesis of complex biologically based systems which display functions that do not exist in nature. These engineering strategies are applied at all levels of the hierarchy of biological systems and structures (e.g. organisms, tissues, cells, individual molecules).

ROUND TABLE SESSION:
- The Future of Nanomedicine: Current Status and Future Prospects of Nanomedicine

SPECIAL SYMPOSIUM
- Promises kept? Where are the Products for Medical Application?