Application of semiconductor quantum dots for a study of biological systems

Advantages of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) for study and diagnostics of biological systems are discussed A new method for amino acid diagnostics using semiconductor QDs is proposed. Interaction of isolated QDs with charged amino acids is studied in detail. It is shown that such interaction results in a shift of the QD luminescence spectra by several dozens of meV. This effect provides new possibilities for identification of biological objects using QDs.