Preface
Milestones and developments in microbiology have been defined by constant
changes in the outlook of the discipline, from being a basic science course in the
nineteenth century to the applied exploitation of microbes that gave birth to
microbial technology as a component of biotechnology in the twentieth century and
its entry into the field of nanoscience in the twenty-first century to herald the
sub-discipline of microbial nanobiotechnology that exists at the interface of basic
microbiology, applied microbiology/microbial technology and nanoscience. The
unique attributes of microbes, high multiplication rates, diversity and tolerance to
challenging environmental factors, efficient and versatile metabolic machineries,
controllable growth and amenable genetic manipulation have been regularly
exploited to advance the applications of microbes in nanobiotechnology. Being a
new emerging area, there is dearth of reading texts on microbial nanobiotechnology.
The current endeavour is therefore to produce a textbook that would serve as a
vital resource material on the contributions of micro-organisms to advances in
nanotechnology, establishing their applications in diverse areas of biomedicine,
environment, biocatalysis, food and nutrition, and renewable energy. It attempts to
bridge the gap between life sciences and nanotechnology towards stimulating the
interests of applied microbiologists and biochemists in nanotechnology. It would
serve as a good compendium documenting the impacts of micro-organisms in
nanotechnology, leading to further developments in the sub-discipline of “microbial
nanobiotechnology”. The text would be of immense use to graduate students and
researchers of microbiology, biochemistry and nanotechnology.
In a lucid manner, authors have discussed several topical issues to X-ray the
potentials, challenges and advances of microbial nanobiotechnology. In the chapter
“Microbial Nanobiotechnology: The Melting Pot of Microbiology, Microbial
Technology and Nanotechnology”, Lateef et al. introduced microbial nanobiotechnology as a melting pot of microbiology, microbial technology and nanotechnology
bringing to the fore the interrelatedness and addressed challenging issues in the
development of microbial nanobiotechnology. Asafa et al. gave an expose of
characterization techniques in nanotechnology in the chapter “Characterization
Techniques in Nanotechnology: The State of the Art”, while in the chapter
v
Milestones and developments in microbiology have been defined by constant
changes in the outlook of the discipline, from being a basic science course in the
nineteenth century to the applied exploitation of microbes that gave birth to
microbial technology as a component of biotechnology in the twentieth century and
its entry into the field of nanoscience in the twenty-first century to herald the
sub-discipline of microbial nanobiotechnology that exists at the interface of basic
microbiology, applied microbiology/microbial technology and nanoscience. The
unique attributes of microbes, high multiplication rates, diversity and tolerance to
challenging environmental factors, efficient and versatile metabolic machineries,
controllable growth and amenable genetic manipulation have been regularly
exploited to advance the applications of microbes in nanobiotechnology. Being a
new emerging area, there is dearth of reading texts on microbial nanobiotechnology.
The current endeavour is therefore to produce a textbook that would serve as a
vital resource material on the contributions of micro-organisms to advances in
nanotechnology, establishing their applications in diverse areas of biomedicine,
environment, biocatalysis, food and nutrition, and renewable energy. It attempts to
bridge the gap between life sciences and nanotechnology towards stimulating the
interests of applied microbiologists and biochemists in nanotechnology. It would
serve as a good compendium documenting the impacts of micro-organisms in
nanotechnology, leading to further developments in the sub-discipline of “microbial
nanobiotechnology”. The text would be of immense use to graduate students and
researchers of microbiology, biochemistry and nanotechnology.
In a lucid manner, authors have discussed several topical issues to X-ray the
potentials, challenges and advances of microbial nanobiotechnology. In the chapter
“Microbial Nanobiotechnology: The Melting Pot of Microbiology, Microbial
Technology and Nanotechnology”, Lateef et al. introduced microbial nanobiotechnology as a melting pot of microbiology, microbial technology and nanotechnology
bringing to the fore the interrelatedness and addressed challenging issues in the
development of microbial nanobiotechnology. Asafa et al. gave an expose of
characterization techniques in nanotechnology in the chapter “Characterization
Techniques in Nanotechnology: The State of the Art”, while in the chapter
v