DVC Company's DVC 1412, Cyrstalplex's PixBeads, and Quantum Dot's Qdot are examples of commercial quantum dot products for biological applications. Quantum Dot and Evident technologies are the two leading makers of quantum dots for biological applications. Their dots emit in the whole visible range and into the near-IR. There are slight differences in the vendors dots preparation that result in differentiable products. Quantum Dot's cornerstone nanocrystal and bioconjugates products are only for life sciences applications. Evident's quantum dots are available for biological imaging and for non-biology applications. Steve Talbot, VP of marketing for Evident, says the biggest applications besides biotechnology are in development of new types of pigments and in telecommunication. Crystalplex PlxBeads is based on intrusion prevention system (IPS) licensed from Indiana a University Bloomington and Emory University and can be used for biological applications without making them water-soluble. Quantum Dots has patented IP for a like product called Qbead encoded microspheres that can be used to conduct multiplexed gene expression strategies through attachment of oligonnucleotide probes to their surfaces. Among topics covered are the potential for lower instrumentation costs with quantum dots, quantum dots as the foundation of a detection system for chemical toxins and infectious agents, interaction of proteins, and in vivo imaging.