Inorganic nanoparticles for therapeutic delivery: Trials, tribulations and promise

• Inorganic nanoparticles provide platforms for biomedicine.
• Numerous nanoparticle systems with useful properties have been developed.
• Characterization is a very important but often neglected topic in nanomedicine.
• We do not have an integrated understanding of nanobiosystems yet.
• Lack of fundamental understanding means limited predictive capabilities.

Inorganic nanomaterials have a wide array of physical and structural properties that make them attractive candidates for imaging and therapeutic delivery. Nanoparticle platforms have been intensely studied for these applications, and examples are starting to enter the clinic. This review looks at why inorganic particles provide promising platforms for biomedicine, and what issues need to be addressed for them to reach their potential.

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