The Potential of Hybrid and Biocompatible Nanopores in Biomedical Field

Nanopore sensing has emerged as a transformative technology for single-molecule detection, offering high resolution and multimolecular compatibility. While traditional biological and solid-state nanopores face limitations in stability, selectivity, and signal-to-noise ratio, hybrid nanopore which integrate biological components with synthetic materials like graphene or carbon nanotubes. It combines the precision of biological pores with the robustness of solid-state systems. This review explores the applications of hybrid nanopores in biomedical fields, focusing on three key areas. The first one is targeted drug delivery and stimulus-responsive systems, where nanoporous materials like anodic aluminum oxide enable controlled drug release and biocompatible implants. The second one is protein sensing, addressing challenges such as weak charge and structural complexity through innovations like silicon nitride-carbon nanotube hybrids that decelerate translocation for high-fidelity amino acid discrimination and the last one is DNA detection, where DNA origami-graphene nanopores achieve base-specific recognition by leveraging hydrogen bonding and slowed translocation dynamics. By analyzing these applications, the review highlights the advantages of hybrid nanopores compared to the pure nanopores and traditional technologies which include enhanced stability, tunable pore chemistry, and improved spatiotemporal resolution, while acknowledging challenges in fabrication scalability and material compatibility. This review also underscores the potential of hybrid nanopores to advance precision diagnostics, therapeutics, and sequencing, providing a roadmap for future research to overcome existing barriers and unlock their clinical potential.