Used in molecular biology for dephosphorylation of DNA and RNA to prevent self-ligation during cloning. Commonly applied in restriction enzyme cloning and vector preparation. Also used in diagnostic assays to detect gene expression and in clinical tests to measure liver and bone disorders due to its presence in serum. Plays a role in protein detection in western blotting when used as an enzyme-linked antibody label. Industrial applications include use in biosensors and bioremediation processes.