Applications of magnetic nanoparticles in biomedical separation and purification

In recent years, nanoparticle formulations utilizing magnetic materials have started gaining more consideration in the biomedical arena due to their inherent superparamagnetic/paramagnetic nature paving ways to develop assays and sensors benefitting mostly magnetic separation technique. Coupled with the developments in the synthetic field in obtaining controlled-sized particles and surface functionalities, a variety of sensitive and selective assays have been developed ranging from detection/separation/enrichment of antibodies, enzymes, proteins, and nucleic acids to whole cells, virus, and pathogens utilizing a variety of signal transduction mechanisms including fluorescence, surface plasmon resonance, and magnetic resonance. In addition to ongoing research in this field, there are already commercialized products engineered to detect and quantify biomolecules with proper surface formulations. Owing to the immensity of applications of magnetic particles, in this article, recent trends in the design and applications of iron oxide nanoparticles will be reviewed.