title: Field-flow fractionation and biotechnology.
abstract: The gentle separation mechanism has made field-flow fractionation particularly suited to samples of biotechnological interest, from proteins and nucleic acids to viruses, subcellular units and whole cells. Recent progress in field-flow fractionation technology, as well as the development of coupled techniques combining field-flow fractionation capabilities with the specificity and sensitivity of well-established analytical methods, opens up new biotechnological applications for field-flow fractionation. The most recent appealing applications include: sorting and fingerprinting of bacteria for whole-cell vaccine production; noninvasive and tagless sorting of immature and stem cells; separation of intact proteins and enzymes in top-down proteomics; and the development of flow-assisted, multianalyte immunoassays using nano- and micron-sized particles with immobilized biomolecules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reschiglian
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zattoni
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roda
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Michelini
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D031521:Fractionation, Field Flow; D006801:Humans