This book reviews the latest advances in the development of silicon nano-biotechnology for biological and biomedical applications, which include biosensing, bioimaging, and cancer therapy. In this book, newly developed silicon nano-biotechnology and its biomedical applications are systematically introduced. For instance, fluorescent silicon nanoparticles, serving as novel high-performance biological nanoprobes, are superbly suited to real-time and long-term bioimaging. Silicon nanowire-based sensing platform is especially capable of sensitive, specific, and multiplexed detection of various biological species. Silicon-based nanocarriers with ultra-high drug-loading capacity are highly efficacious for in vitro and in vivo cancer therapies.

This book is intended for readers who are interested in the design of functional silicon nanostructures and their biological and biomedical applications. It uses silicon nanoparticles and silicon nanowires as models and discusses topics ranging from their synthesis to their biological applications, the goal being to highlight these exciting achievements as starting points in the field of silicon nano-biotechnology.

Yao He is a Professor at Institute of Functional Nano&Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, China.

Yuanyuan Su is an Associate Professor at Institute of Functional Nano&Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, China.

Yao He is a professor at Institute of Functional Nano&Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, China. He received his bachelor degree (2003) in Chemistry from Fudan University, China, and continued the Master and Ph.D. studies at the same university (2003-2007). He was a visiting scholar of the joint program at Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2005-2007). Afterwards, he worked at the City University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, China, as a research fellow. He became an associate professor (2009) and was promoted to full professor (2011) at FUNSOM, Soochow University. His research interests focus on the development of silicon nanotechnology for biological and biomedical applications, particularly in bioimaging, biosensing, and cancer therapy, with the aim of providing promising tools for early diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Because of his original research on silicon nano-biotechnology, Prof. He received the Chinese Chemical Society Award for Young Scientists in 2012, and the National Science and Technology Leading Talent Award in 2012. Moreover, He served as the chief scientist of the “youth 973” project (National Key Scientific Research Projects, China) in 2013 on systematic exploration of silicon nano-biotechnology.

Yuanyuan Su is an associate professor at Institute of Functional Nano&Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, China. She received her bachelor degree (2005) in Biochemistry, and Ph.D. degree (2010) in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Nanjing University, China. Afterwards, she worked at the Center of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films (COSDAF), City University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, China, as a senior research associate. In 2011, she joined Prof. He’s group and became an associate professor at FUNSOM, Soochow University. Her research interests are in nanomaterial-based disease therapy and nano-biosafety assessment.