The direct application of nanoscale materials to biological targets is now yielding promising applications in medicine. This talk will review the field of fullerene and carbon nanotube, as well as describe current applications of fullerene derivatives in biology and medicine.

The flexible chemical reactivity of fullerene-C60 has already resulted in the synthesis of numerous fullerene compounds that are now available for study. In addition, at 7.2 A in diameter, C60 is similar in size to steroid hormones or peptide alpha-helices and thus fullerene compounds are ideal molecules to serve as ligands for enzymes and receptors. Other fundamental physical and chemical properties of fullerenes govern how they may be adapted for biological use. While fullerene-C60 itself shows no solubility in water, many fullerene compounds can be very water-soluble. Such derivatives of C60 contain polar side chains and, as a general rule, the greater the number of polar groups the greater the water solubility. In order to maximize the chances of advantageous adsorption and distribution properties of bioactive compounds, it is generally accepted that there are certain desirable ranges of lipophilicity and several fullerene compounds have been produced that are in favorable therapeutic ranges. Numerous useful fullerene-based therapeutics have already been developed, including anti-viral agents, neuroprotective agents, and anti-cancer drugs.  Novel fullerene-based liposome drug delivery systems - and the deployment of fullerene therapeutics to targeting vehicles, including monoclonal antibodies - will be described, as well as the use of fullerene-based bilamellar membranes for biomedical applications.  The use of these fullerene-based nanoscale products for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostic applications will be discussed, including the advance of fullerene-based therapeutics to human clinical trials.