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Efficient oligonucleotide probe design and synthesis based on polymer-coated CdSe/ZnS quantum dot (QD) is demonstrated for detection of telomeres in human monocyte and Leishmania major, a protozoan pathogenic parasite. The highly photoluminescent polymer-coated QDs conjugated with various length of telomere probe sequences were prepared via carbodiimide chemistry and characterized. Specific detection of telomere was observed when DNA sequence was (CCCAAT)n (n = 5 or 3) probe sequence, rather than (GGGTTA)n (n = 3, 5, 8). The sensitivity and specificity were comparable with commercially available PNA probe for human telomere detection.