NANOBOTS AND SMART DRUG DELIVERY: BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN NANOTECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINES

Nanobots and smart drug delivery system is one of the radical convergences of nanotechnology and mainstream medicine with unprecedented precision, efficiency and control in therapeutic intervention. Conventional methods of delivering drugs are usually limited by low bioavailability, non-selective distribution, systemic toxicity and variable drug levels that can result in a low level of efficacy and side effects. Conversely, nanobots, engineered nanoscale systems, with the ability to navigate the biological world, and smart drug delivery systems, offer targeted, controlled, and stimuli-responsive therapeutic solutions, thereby overcoming most of these issues. Nanobots are usually made of biocompatible polymers, metals, lipids or hybrid composites and may be functionalised with ligands, antibodies or peptides to bind to a particular cellular or molecular target. It is a type of nanoscale machines that are developed to do complicated jobs, such as the delivery of drugs to target sites, biosensing, diagnostics, and even microsurgery. This is because their capacity to cross biological barriers, including the blood-brain barrier, and concentration at disease sites can result in site-directed drug release, which causes minimal harm to healthy tissues. Moreover, the development of nanorobotics has provided the possibility of integrating propulsion systems, including magnetic, chemical or acoustic control, that will permit external or autonomous navigation in the human body. Smart drug delivery systems are used alongside nanobots, and add stimuli-responsive capabilities to controlled drug delivery in response to particular physiological factors, such as pH, temperature, enzymes, or redox environment. As an example, the tumor microenvironment is frequently acidic with an increased activity of enzymes and can be targeted by pH-responsive or enzyme-responsive nanocarriers to deliver anticancer drugs to the tumor. Likewise, diabetic management systems responsive to glucose have been established, which allows the real-time release of insulin, depending on the level of glucose in the bloodstream. These smart systems improve therapeutic effects and lessen the dosing rate and systemic side effects.