The evolution over the last two decades of the nanocrystals known as quantum dots has seen the growth of this revolutionary new tool from electronic materials science to far-reaching biological applications that will allow researchers to study cell processes at the level of a single molecule and may result in new and better ways to diagnose and treat cancers.

Fluorescent semiconductor quantum dots, or qdots, also hold promise for high-resolution cellular imaging and the long-term observation of individual molecules and their movement within cells, according to a UCLA-led team of chemistry and biochemistry researchers that includes scientists from Stanford University. The researchers assess this emerging field and highlight two recent advances in the Jan. 28, 2005, issue of the peer-reviewed journal Science.

"Qdots as biological probes have lived up to the hopes of their initial promoters," said the article's senior author, Shimon Weiss, a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher,...
(source: University Of California - Los Angeles) More