Our core hypothesis is that, rather than the simple nanoparticle itself,
it is the dynamical corona of associated biomolecules that defines
the biological identity of the nanoparticle. It is therefore this corona
that might lead to a more clear classification system of nanosafety,
and it is also this corona that could be used to engineer nanomedical
outcomes. We therefore believe that very considerable efforts will
increasingly be directed at this challenge by the scientific community.
We also note the surprising feature that nanoparticles are
sometimes able to induce dramatic effects on protein interactions, such
as in the case of protein fibrillation. This observation, when combined
with the potential of nanoparticles to be transported to the brain,
implies the need to study this whole arena in more depth in the future.
Scientists in the 20th century developed surface physical chemistry
and related fields to a high point of achievement. It is an interesting
observation that once more, albeit in quite a different context, high
surface area adsorption of biomolecules has become a key arena for
the development of bionanointeractions.