Atomic spectrometry and elemental mass spectrometry are very powerful techniques for elemental analysis, which have been widely applied in bio-analytical chemistry. In single cell analysis field, research work focuses on element distribution and bioavailability in individual cells with the aid of inductively coupled plasma mass spatrometry (ICP-MS); In the field of elemental label strategy, high sensitive methods are explored for the measurement of small molecules, nuclear acids, proteins and other biological targets; For metal drug analysis, ICP-MS is applied for the investigation on uptake, distribution, metabolism and excretion of metal drugs in organisms, which provides important information for further biomedical research and metal drug design; Considering bio-imaging, laser ablation （LA） ICP-MS is employed for in-situ analysis and micro-analysis of biological samples, providing information for molecular mechanism of relevant biological process; elemental speciation analysis in plant/animal tissues is realized by combining atomic spectrometry or ICP-MS with separation techniques. In this paper, these applications are reviewed including single-cell elemental analysis, elemental label strategy, metal drugs transport and metabolism, and elemental distribution analysis in biological tissues. The development and the prospective of atomic spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in biological chemistry are discussed.