ABSTRACT
The development of life is a proficiently orchestrated process of a myriad of distinctive molecules. From DNA to cells and from cells to organs, it is molecules that are the building blocks of all life. The specificity to particular molecules or cells differentiates molecular and cellular imaging from more conventional imaging techniques, such as anatomical and functional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, which mainly describe gross morphology and organ blood flow. Developments in molecular and cellular imaging will allow the investigation of the elemental constituents of organs, hence introduce a means to interrogate everything from gene expression to functional circuitries. Modifying MR contrast agents into multifunctional entities, crossing the blood-brain barrier and selectively detecting amyloid plaques improves their attractiveness to molecular and cellular imaging. MR contrast agents so far have an excellent record of safety; care must be taken to ensure that the procedures for translation of molecular, cellular imaging follow similar stringent tests and analyses that vouch for the agents' biocompatibility.
