Capillary electrophoresis.

The combined techniques that comprise capillary electrophoresis are under rapid development for a wide range of molecules and sample types. The capillary format provides fast, highly efficient separations and makes automation possible. At present, systematic approaches to separation methodology are still in the development stages and better detection schemes need to be developed. There is no doubt that electrophoresis in a capillary tube will take its place as a substitute for HPLC in specific applications. This is especially apparent when analysis time, efficiency, or simplicity is of greatest concern. Capillary electrophoresis will prove extremely useful for separations of nucleotides and proteins for analytical purposes in biotechnology. Finally, the ability to use ultrasmall-volume samples makes capillary electrophoresis ideal for the development of separations-based sensors for the analysis of microenvironments.