Detergents find a wide range of applications in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, chemistry, diagnostics etc. Very frequently, they are used for the solubilization and extraction of proteins, enzymes or receptors from cell membranes. Some surfactants can be used for the stabilization or reconstitution of isolated proteins, others for the denaturation of proteins and separation into subunits. Other applications are:

• Cell lysis
• Permeabilization of cells
• Solubilization of photosystems and photosynthesis pigments
• Extraction of DNA and RNA
• Solubilization and characterization of phospholipids and lipid rafts
• Chromatographic and electrophoretic separations
• Cell culture techniques
• Chemiluminescence and fluorescence analysis
• Reversed micellar extraction of peptides and proteins
• Protein assays
• Immunological determination procedures