Nanobio : Projet Nano Biotechnologie Grenoble Isère
NanoBio > Presentation and goals
NanoBio aims to develop new, miniaturized tools to improve analysis, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of diseases.
Adopting a pluridisciplinary approach, it brings together players from research (more than 300 scientists working in biology, chemistry and electronics), training and industry in the Grenoble urban area.
Its goals are complementary with other major projects unfolding in Grenoble and Rhône-Alpes – MINATEC@, Cancéropôle Lyon Auvergne Rhône-Alpes (CLARA)– while occupying a pivotal position between two world-class competitive clusters certified by the French government, Minalogic and LyonBiopole.
A multi-site project
and streamline the necessary exchange between different disciplines (micro and nanotechnologies, chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, etc.).
The project includes the renovation and construction of several buildings at the Grenoble Science Park and a new structure on the campus at Saint-Martin-d'Hères, close to the chemistry and biology clusters. NanoBio also plans to build several technology platforms equipped with advanced equipment.
Furthermore the project includes investments to equip the three centres (science park, campus and healthcare cluster) with cutting-edge equipment
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 Architect's sketch of a new building on the CEA site |
 Architect's sketch of a new building on the campus |
An established international reputation
NanoBio partners are already recognized as major players in European nanobiotechnology research.
CEA is the lead partner in the Nano2Life network of excellence, funded by the European Commission, which brings together 23 public research organizations in 12 countries, as well as involving about 20 industrial partners.
Occupying a pivotal position in European research policy CEA is also coordinating the project for a European institute of nanobiotechnology, due to be set up in 2008.
As for UJF it organizes several international schools, with EU backing, including the European School on Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies. It is also a partner in European projects in the Grenoble area associated with international research centres.
Grenoble's NanoBio cluster thus enjoys the benefits of an international environment in nanobiotechnology, with access to essential advanced facilities.
Capitalizing on research
Much as what happened in the electronics industry, scope for miniaturizing the instruments used in biological investigation should revolutionize the sector.
The apparatus (mostly used for analysis), which is currently fairly bulky and expensive, will be replaced in the future by systems based on microfluidics and microtechnology. By taking advantage of the reduction in size, it should be possible to increase the number of analysis operations by several orders of magnitude without increasing analysis time or overall cost.
Furthermore, multiplying the number of analysis operations on a small sample contributes to a better understanding of biological phenomena in cells and their multiple interactions.
There are many applications of interest to basic research laboratories, but also for biomedical and environmental analysis, and pharmaceutical R&D.
The products and services arising out of development work at NanoBio aim to improve quality of life (health, environment, safety), as for example:
Medical diagnosis (in vitro, in vivo, monitoring)
Pharmaceutical research:
Discovery of new drugs (high-speed screening, in situ combinatorial chemistry,
toxicity studies) thanks to lab-on-chips, protein chips
Drug vectorizations
Medical and clinical research
Finding new tumour markers (clinical proteomics)
Adapting treatment
Life science research
Analysis tools for genomics, proteomics, cell biology
Instrumentation for analyzing cell dynamics at molecular scale
Environmental monitoring
Detecting pathogenic organisms (legionella, salmonella, etc.)
Tracking pollutants in the air and water
Civil defence and safety
Combating bioterrorism
Agri-food industry
Detecting pathogenic organisms in the food production chain
Detecting traces of GM substances
Veterinary sector
Many highly diverse industrial sectors thus stand to gain from using nanobiotechnology. The broad reach guarantees the lasting value of actions undertaken at all levels (investment in human resources, equipment and property).
Regardless of the application, it is clearly vital that research teams work closely with end users and industrialists tasked with the manufacture and system-integration of such technology.