ABSTRACT
Over the past decades, numerous analytical techniques have achieved the detection of an extraordinarily small number of molecules. Detection limits have been pushed down to the zeptomole range. Analytical chemists have developed systems that are reliable and provide huge amounts of data. In analytical chemistry, we can roughly distinguish between separation methods and identification methods. The development of hyphenation, together with the incredible shrinking of mass spectrometers, has opened a new era. The last decade will be remembered as the boost of miniaturization. We can foresee the days of on-site laboratories with miniaturized devices linked to a decision center. The time-consuming step is the sample pretreatment.
