Capillary electrophoresis in clinical and forensic analysis: Recent advances and breakthrough to routine applications

This paper is a comprehensive review article on capillary electrophoresis ( CE) in clinical and forensic analysis. It is based upon the literature of 1 997 and 1998, presents CE examples in major fields of application, and prov ides an overview of the key achievements encountered, including those assoc iated with the analysis of drugs, serum proteins, hemoglobin variants, and nucleic acids. For CE in clinical and forensic analysis, the past two years witnessed a breakthrough to routine applications. As most coauthors of thi s review are associated with diagnostic or forensic laboratories now using CE on a routine basis, this review also contains data from routine applicat ions in drug, protein, and DNA analysis. With the first-hand experience of providing analytical service under stringent quality control conditions, as pects of quality assurance, assay specifications for clinical and forensic CE and the pros and cons of this maturing, cost and pollution-controlled ag e technology are also discussed.