The role of chromatography and electrophoresis in biomedical sciences

Various facets of the history of clinical chromatography are considered, with emphasis on their application to the present state of the art. The work of Goppelsroeder on capillary analysis is reviewed, followed by a discussion of C.E. Dent's work on aminoacidurias, Lato's thin-layer chromatographic studies of sugars in urine, Ian Bush's approach to automated chromatography, as well as the extensive possibilities of high-voltage electrophoresis shown by Clotten and Clotten. It is interesting that none of these methods has been applied extensively in diagnostic work. Capillary electrophoresis, which was developed by Hjertén in 1969, seems to have gained new interest recently. At present, although it seems obvious that chromatographic methods could solve numerous diagnostic problems, surprisingly little work is being done outside the larger hospital laboratories. Some of the reasons for this situation are discussed, as are the future prospects of the Biomedical Applications section of the Journal of Chromatography.