Magnetic colloids: preparation and biomedical applications

Increasing interest has been focused on the preparation of magnetic latex particles and their use in biomedical diagnostics. All elaborated magnetic colloidal particles or latexes are principally used as a solid support of biomolecules involved in the specific capture of targeted biomolecules such as antigens in immunoassays (i.e., ELISA) and nucleic acid detection in ELOSA. Nowadays, the main objective in biomedical diagnosis is to enhance the sensitivity and to accelerate the procedure by elaborating new magnetic colloidal particles and diagnostic methods. The general problem in this field is related to the limited sensitivity. One possibility to partially solve it is to increase the concentration of captured targets (antigens, nucleic acids, etc.) before the specific detection step. Thus, the use of appropriate magnetic colloidal particles and methods for extraction and concentration of biomolecules is of extreme interest.