| abstract |
The present invention include fluorescent nanocrystals which have high fluorescence intensity, are water soluble, exhibit physical and chemical stability, and whose spectral properties are detectably modified as the size of functional groups bonded to the nanocrystal surface change when contacted with target molecules in a sample. The molecules in the sample add to or reduce the size of functional groups on the fluorescent nanocrystal proportional to the activity and amount of the target molecules. The present invention may be used to detect telomerase in a sample. |