In the decade since the publication of the fi rst edition, the fi eld of bioconjugation has
advanced at an incredible pace. Tens of thousands of additional publications have appeared in
the biological, medical, polymer, material science, and chemistry journals describing novel reactions
and reagents along with their use in a variety of bioconjugate techniques. In some cases,
the innovative application of relatively old organic reactions that now are used to solve new
bioconjugation problems has resulted in signifi cant advances in the fi eld. Today, there are more
options available than ever before to create nearly any covalent complex imaginable between
molecules of virtually any type. In addition, exciting new methods of detecting biomolecules
and their interactions have been made possible by recent inventions in bioconjugate chemistry.