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Review
. 2025 Mar 21;26(7):2846.
doi: 10.3390/ijms26072846.

Applications of Green Carbon Dots in Personalized Diagnostics for Precision Medicine

Affiliations
Review

Applications of Green Carbon Dots in Personalized Diagnostics for Precision Medicine

Habtamu F Etefa et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Green carbon dots (GCDs) have emerged as a revolutionary tool in precision medicine, offering transformative capabilities for personalized diagnostics and therapeutic strategies. Their unique optical and biocompatible properties make them ideal for non-invasive imaging, real-time monitoring, and integration with genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics, enabling accurate diagnosis and tailored treatments based on patients' genetic and molecular profiles. This study explores the potential of GCDs in advancing individualized patient care by examining their applications in precision medicine. It evaluates their utility in non-invasive diagnostic imaging, targeted therapy delivery, and the formulation of personalized treatment plans, emphasizing their interaction with advanced genomic, proteomic, and bioinformatics platforms. GCDs demonstrated exceptional versatility in enabling precise diagnostics and delivering targeted therapies. Their integration with cutting-edge technologies showed significant promise in crafting personalized treatment strategies, enhancing their functionality and effectiveness in real-time monitoring and patient-specific applications. The findings underscore the pivotal role of GCDs in reshaping healthcare by advancing precision medicine and improving patient outcomes. The ongoing development and integration of GCDs with emerging technologies promise to further enhance their capabilities, paving the way for more effective, individualized medical care.

Keywords: GCDs; drug delivery systems; genomics; proteomics; theranostics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Top-down and bottom-up approaches for the fabrication of carbon dots [58]. Copyright 2023, Elsevier.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Drug delivery with CDs. (a) CDs utilizing the EPR effect to enter a lesion. (b) CDs as a delivery platform for DOX. (c) CDs being used to deliver cisplatin. (d) Mechanisms of controlled drug release. (e) CDs-containing hydrogel for the controlled release NFX [97]. Copyright 2022, Wiley Online Library.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Green carbon dots fluorescence imaging and anti-counterfeiting applications [60]. Copyright 2021, Published by American Chemical Society. (b) Environmentally friendly sources employed for the Green CDs and their applications for bio-imaging and bio-sensing [61]. Copyright Elsevier (2020).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Various biomedical applications of carbon dots: (a) bioimaging, (b) drug delivery, (c) therapy, (d) gene delivery [67]. Copyright 2023, mdpi.com.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The interactions of various CDs involved in inhibiting different pathogeneses of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [80]. Copyright 2025, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Proposed biomedical application of CD/polymer composite materials [110]. Copyright 2022, mdpi.com.

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