This article presents information on a conference Jornadas de Análisis Instrumental (JAI), held in November 2002, at Barcelona, Spain. The meeting of JAI describes a very interesting approach to the extraction, purification and characterization of synthetic crudes of peptide hormones of therapeutical interest. The rigorous and useful methodology proposed is characteristic of analytical proteomics and it is being imported to trace element speciation investigations. It could be said that nowadays the JAI in Spain is playing a role which is reminiscent of that played in the U.S. by the well known Pittsburgh Conference: it is a great occasion for manufacturers to show the latest instruments and methodologies of modern analytical science in the instrument exhibition to scientists and users attending the JAI scientific meeting.
Information about several papers discussed at two symposiums sponsored by the Spanish Society for Analytical Chemistry (SEQA) on general research and teaching on analytical chemistry issues is presented. Topics include the present and future of analytical nanotechnology and research on the use of quantum dots and multiwalled carbon nanotubes for novel detection strategies in biosensors. The symposiums were intended for chemists, biologists, and other professionals.