Techniques of isothermal microcalorimetry have been much improved during the past two decades. In addition to their use in fundamental research, applications of practical importance have been established in some areas. However, no significant use of isothermal microcalorimetry has yet been seen in practical applications of biology, despite many methodological studies reported from that area. The main problem appears to be that the sample throughput of isothermal microcalorimeters is low compared to other techniques used in that field. Further, the non-specificity of calorimetric signals is in some cases a serious limitation. Significant progress has recently been made in the design of multi-channel isothermal microcalorimeters and in techniques where specific analytical methods have been combined with isothermal microcalorimeters. Some conclusions will be drawn with respect to the use of these techniques in applied work on living materials.