that makes use of biological materials/components – it could in principle or does alternatively use abiotic components. it plays a smaller role in medicine (which is concerned with biological organisms). it makes use of natural or biomimetic systems or elements for unique nanoscale structures and various applications that may not be directionally associated with biology rather than mostly biological applications. in contrast, nanobiotechnology uses biotechnology miniaturized to nanometer size or incorporates nanomolecules into biological systems. in some future applications, both fields could be merged. dna dna nanotechnology is one important example of bionanotechnology. the utilization of the inherent properties of nucleic acids like dna to create useful materials or devices – such as biosensors – is a promising area of modern research. dna digital data storage refers mostly to the use of synthesized but otherwise conventional strands of dna to store digital data, which could be useful for e.g. high-density long-term data storage that isn't accessed and written to frequently as an alternative to 5d optical data storage or for use in combination with other nanobiotechnology. membrane materials another important area of research involves taking advantage of membrane properties to generate synthetic membranes. proteins that self-assemble to generate functional materials could be used as a novel approach for the large-scale production of programmable nanomaterials. one example is the development of amyloids found in bacterial biofilms as engineered nanomaterials that can be programmed genetically to have different properties. lipid nanotechnology lipid nanotechnology is another major area of research in bionanotechnology, where physico-chemical properties of lipids such as their antifouling and self-assembly is exploited to build nanodevices with applications in medicine and engineering. lipid nanotechnology approaches can also be used to develop next-generation emulsion methods to maximize both absorption of fat-soluble nutrients and the ability to incorporate them into popular beverages. computing "memristors" fabricated from protein nanowires of the bacterium geobacter sulfurreducens which function at substantially lower voltages than previously described ones may allow the construction of artificial neurons which function at voltages of biological action potentials. the nanowires have a range of advantages over silicon nanowires and the memristors may be used to directly process biosensing signals, for neuromorphic computing (see also: wetware computer) and/or direct communication with biological neurons. other protein folding studies provide a third important avenue of research, but one that has been largely inhibited by our inability to predict protein folding with a sufficiently high degree of accuracy. given the myriad uses that biological systems have for proteins, though, research into understanding protein folding is of high importance and could prove fruitful for bionanotechnology in the future. agriculture in the agriculture industry, engineered nanoparticles have been serving as nano carriers, containing herbicides, chemicals, or genes, which target particular plant parts to release their content. previously nanocapsules containing herbicides have been reported to effectively penetrate through cuticles and tissues, allowing the slow and constant release of the active substances. likewise, other literature describes that nano-encapsulated slow release of fertilizers has also become a trend to save fertilizer consumption and to minimize environmental pollution through precision farming. these are only a few examples from numerous research works which might open up exciting opportunities for nanobiotechnology application in agriculture. also, application of this kind of engineered nanoparticles to plants should be considered the level of amicability before it is employed in agriculture practices. based on a thorough literature survey, it was understood that there is only limited authentic information available to explain the biological consequence of engineered nanoparticles on treated plants. certain reports underline the phytotoxicity of various origin of engineered nanoparticles to the plant caused by the subject of concentrations and sizes . at the same time, however, an equal number of studies were reported with a positive outcome of nanoparticles, which facilitate growth promoting nature to treat plant. in particular, compared to other nanoparticles, silver and gold nanoparticles based applications elicited beneficial results on various plant species with less and/or no toxicity. silver nanoparticles (agnps) treated leaves of asparagus showed the increased content of ascorbate and chlorophyll. similarly, agnps-treated common bean and corn has increased shoot and root length, leaf surface area, chlorophyll, carbohydrate and protein contents reported earlier. the gold nanoparticle has been used to induce growth and seed yield in brassica juncea. tools this field relies on a variety of research methods, including experimental tools (e.g. imaging, characterization via afm/optical tweezers etc.), x-ray diffraction based tools, synthesis via self-assembly, characterization of self-assembly (using e.g. mp-spr, dpi, recombinant dna methods, etc.), theory (e.g. statistical mechanics, nanomechanics, etc.), as well as computational approaches (bottom-up multi-scale simulation, supercomputing). risk management as of 2009, the risks of nanobiotechnologies are poorly understood and in the u.s. there is no solid national consensus on what kind of regulatory policy principles should be followed. for example, nanobiotechnologies may have hard to control effects on the environment or ecosystems and human health. the metal-based nanoparticles used for biomedical prospectives are extremely enticing in various applications due to their distinctive physicochemical characteristics, allowing them to influence cellular processes at the biological level. the fact that metal-based nanoparticles have high surface-to-volume ratios makes them reactive or catalytic. due to their small size, they are more likely to be able to penetrate biological barriers such as cell membranes and cause cellular dysfunction in living organisms. indeed, the high toxicity of some transition metals can make it challenging to use mixed oxide nps in biomedical uses. it triggers adverse effects on organisms, causing oxidative stress, stimulating the formation of ros, mitochondrial perturbation, and the modulation of cellular functions, with fatal results in some cases. bonin notes that "nanotechnology is not a specific determinate homogenous entity, but a collection of diverse capabilities and applications" and that nanobiotechnology research and development is – as one of many fields – affected by dual-use problems.