abstract
- © 2017, Springer International Publishing AG.The partitioning of biological particles in aqueous two-phase systems has been extensively studied due to the multiple advantages this liquid¿liquid extraction technique possesses. In this chapter, special attention is given to the following bioparticles: whole cells, stem cells, and cell components from animals, bacterial cells and components, viral particles, and nucleic acids. The major advantages of employing aqueous two-phase systems for the recovery of these studied products are highlighted, in addition to the multiple applications and variant modes that can be exploited with this extraction technique. The principal partitioning mechanism and the experimental variables governing the partition behavior of the studied bioproducts in aqueous two-phase systems are also discussed for each particular case. Reported examples for each category of bioparticles are presented in each section. Finally, the challenges and future trends for the separation of macroparticles in aqueous two-phase system are addressed.