[Cellular and molecular purification processes based on the use of magnetic micro-and nanobeads]

Magnetic separation is a recent technology using magnetism properties. This technology is aimed to purify cells, cell organelles and biologically active compounds such as nucleic acids and proteins. Many magnetic separation procedures have been developed to isolate cells and molecules. The purpose of this review is to give an other view of various methods and strategies which can be employed for selection of targets cells and molecules. We describe techniques used to positive and negative cells selections, we show that magnetic selection is also aimed to perform multiparameter selection or functional selection. Then, we underline emerging technology used to select transfected cells and macromolecules such as proteins, DNA and RNA.