Gold revolution--gold nanoparticles for modern medicine and surgery.

Nanotechnology is a new and exciting branch of science which offers enormous potential for development of medicine and surgery. Gold nanoparticles (GNP) is just one of a variety of nano products which will be available for physician of the future. GNP will give us more effective treatments and diagnosis. We are able to conjugate GNP with peptides, drugs, and other molecules to gain astonishing effects. High quality, non-invasive imaging will inevitably lead to astonishing accuracy diagnostic tools with effective use during surgery. The same principles may be used in the future for drug delivery and thermal treatment of cancer. Detailed DNA detection and regulation may become everyday use technology, in medicine with support from GNP based tools. Bacterial diagnostics and nerve repair are relatively poorly researched areas of application of GNP with possibly astonishing therapeutic effects. Non-invasive clearance of arteriosclerotic plagues with GNP shows a great prospect for further development of minimally invasive surgery. However, before all of those tools will become available for clinicians, in depth toxicology research as well as transitional research and design have to be done to ensure safe clinical practice with maximal benefit for patients.