Nanotechnology in bio/clinical analysis

Nanotechnology is being exploited now in different fields of analytical che mistry: Single cell analysis; in chip/micro machined devices; hyphenated te chnology and sampling techniques. Secretory vesicles can be chemically and individually analyzed with a combination of optical trapping, capillary ele ctrophoresis separation, and laser induced fluorescence detection. Attolite rs (10(-18) 1) can be introduced into the tapered inlets of separation capi llaries. Chip technology has come of age in the field of genomics, allowing faster analyses, and will fulfil an important role in RNA and peptide/prot ein analysis. The introduction of nanotechnology in LC-MS and CE-MS has res ulted in new findings in the study of DNA adduct formation caused by carcin ogenic substances, including anticancer drugs. Sample handling and introduc tion also can benefit from nanotechnology: The downscaling of sample volume s to the picoliter level has resulted in zeptomole (10(-21)) detection limi ts in the single-shot mass spectrum of proteins. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.