An overview of recent advances in quantum dots for biomedical applications

During the past ten years significant advances have been achieved in quantum dot (QD) research field. The new synthetic methods and the discovery of new types of QDs have enabled a variety of new applications of QDs for bioimaging and biosensing. This review will focus on the most recent progress of QDs for biomedical applications. Ample examples will be given in this review on newly developed synthetic methods of QDs, non-toxic QDs, QDs for biomolecule detection, cell and animal imaging, and disease therapy. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.