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Our History
The NanoBiomolecular group was established in 2007 at Istituto di Cibernetica “E.Caianiello”, CNR by Claudia Tortiglione. She exploited for the first time the possibility to use cnidarian organisms as model systems to elucidate the complex interactions between metal based nanocrystals and living matter.

Fashinated by the unique brightness, photostability offered by Quantum Dots to study cell and tissue dynamics, in vivo, she also understood that unfunctionalized NPs can elicit unexpected behavioural responses in treated animals, proving the necessity to study the bio-non bio interactions when designing nanodevices for biological applications

Since these first studies on biological imaging and in frame of numerous international collaborations, our studies lies at the interface between nanochemists demanding new systems to test biocompatibility, bioactivity and toxicity of new nanomaterials and biologists, looking for advanced tools to probe the complex networks and phenomena underlying life.

Since the pioneering studies with QDs for biological imaging we have used a variety of nanomaterials and devices and learned how the unique chemico physical properties of the matter at the nanoscale can be used to control biological processes for intended purposes. Interfacing the freshwater polyp Hydra and the starlet sea anemone Nematostella with many diverse materials lead our studies towards diverse research fields ranging from Nanomedicine and Environmental toxicology to Bioelectronics.

Why Hydra?
Look at Hydra biology