ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a critical overview of the progress made for quantum dots (QD) use in biology. It discusses the current available techniques to prepare biocompatible QDs along with advantages and limitations associated with those techniques. The chapter describes a few representative examples that are believed to be the most important biorelated developments, and provides a critical assessment of the progress made and problems encountered. It also provides a brief outlook of where the field should be progressing and what are the most serious roadblocks that need to be removed. The easiest and most obvious approach is to grow the nanocrystals in an aqueous environment. They require the use of water solubilization strategies to make them compatible with biological manipulations. Several studies have reported the delivery of QDs across the membrane of live cells and into the intracellular medium.
