Inside Front Cover: Anatomy and Growth Characteristics of Conjugated Polyelectrolyte/DNA Aggregates (Adv. Funct. Mater. 22/2008)

Electrostatic complexes containing cationic conjugated polyelectrolytes and DNA form the basis of optically amplified identification and quantification assays. A combination of optical and liquid phase atomic force microscopy, reported by C. Chi et al. on page 3606, has revealed for the first time the size distribution of these electrostatic aggregates and that their growth process is dynamic. This insight provides directions for further increasing the sensitivity of detection protocols.