Jeffrey Perkel | Feb 23, 2003 | 2 min read
Courtesy of Quantum Dot Corp. Fluorescent reporter molecules are used for microscopy, real-time PCR, microarrays, and other applications. Yet most fluorescent dyes share some fundamental flaws: They are subject to photobleaching, are not very bright, and have overlapping emission and absorption spectra. Some nanotechnologists are betting that quantum dots (QDs) will eliminate these problems. QDs consist of a nanometer-scale crystalline core of semiconductor material; biologically active versi