Nanotechnology in bio/clinical analysis

Nanotechnology is being exploited now in different fields of analytical chemistry: Single cell analysis; in chip/micro machined devices; hyphenated technology and sampling techniques. Secretory vesicles can be chemically and individually analyzed with a combination of optical trapping, capillary electrophoresis separation, and laser induced fluorescence detection. Attoliters (10–18 l) can be introduced into the tapered inlets of separation capillaries. Chip technology has come of age in the field of genomics, allowing faster analyses, and will fulfil an important role in RNA and peptide/protein analysis. The introduction of nanotechnology in LC–MS and CE–MS has resulted in new findings in the study of DNA adduct formation caused by carcinogenic substances, including anticancer drugs. Sample handling and introduction also can benefit from nanotechnology: The downscaling of sample volumes to the picoliter level has resulted in zeptomole (10–21) detection limits in the single-shot mass spectrum of proteins.