title: Graphene for multi-functional synthetic biology: the last 'zeitgeist' in nanomedicine.
abstract: The high versatility of graphene has attracted significant attention in many areas of scientific research from electronics to physics and mechanics. One of the most intriguing utilisation of graphene remains however in nanomedicine and synthetic biology. In particular, the last decade has witnessed an exponential growth in the generation of novel candidate therapeutics of multiple biological activities based on graphene constructs with small molecules, such as anti-cancer drugs. In this Digest, we summarise the different synthetic strategies and routes available to fabricate these promising graphene conjugates and the opportunities for the design of multi-functional tools for synthetic biology that they offer.
authors.affiliation: Nanomedicine Laboratory, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences & National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, AV Hill Building, Manchester M13 9PT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Servant
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Laboratoire d'Immunopathologie et Chimie Thérapeutique, 67000 Strasbourg, France. Electronic address: a.bianco@ibmc-cnrs.unistra.fr.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bianco
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università di Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy. Electronic address: prato@units.it.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prato
authors.affiliation: Nanomedicine Laboratory, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences & National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, AV Hill Building, Manchester M13 9PT, United Kingdom. Electronic address: kostas.kostarelos@manchester.ac.uk.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kostarelos
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D015195:Drug Design; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry; D050997:Nanomedicine; D058615:Synthetic Biology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D006108:Graphite
keywords: Carbon; Drug delivery; Nanomaterials; Nanotechnology