Laser light scattering applications in biotechnology

Recent advancement of laser light scattering applications in biotechnology are reviewed with emphasis on their use in the biopharmaceutical industry. Light scattering methods have been used to date to characterize biomolecules in solution. They can provide information about the size and conformation of proteins and their aggregation state as well as their ability to crystallise. In addition, modern light scattering instrumentation is becoming method of choice for studying macromolecular interactions. Interactions between macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids mediate fundamental processes and their modulation has led to new strategies for developing therapeutics. Light scattering approaches offer significant advantage to other approaches for studying molecular interactions. Compared with other techniques, light scattering is very quick, uses minimal sample quantities, allows recovery of the sample and does nor require derivatisation.