半導體螢光奈米粒子在生物上的應用

Abstract

廿一世紀新科技主流涵蓋生物基因、網路技術及微小化，其中微小化一「奈米技術」(nanotechnology)已成為科技及工業界新寵，備受各界關注。本文將概要地介紹螢光半導體奈米材料與生物技術的結合，並分別介紹應用上的實例。最後將簡單地敘述奈米粒子未來在生物科技上的發展趨勢及潛力。

Recent advances in nanomaterials have produced a new class of fluorescent labels by conjugating semiconductor nanocrystals with biorecognition molecules. These nanometer-sized conjugates are water-soluble and biocompatible, and provide important advantages over organic dyes and lanthanide probes. In particular, the emission wavelength of luminescent nanocrystals can be continuously tuned by changing the particle size, and a single light source can be used for simultaneous excitation of all different-sized dots. High-quality dots are also highly stable against photobleaching and have narrow, symmetric emission spectra. These novel optical properties render quantum dots ideal fluorophores for ultrasensitive, multicolor, and multiplexing applications in molecular biotechnology and bioengineering.