This article provides an overview of the development and application of plasmonic nanoprobes developed in our laboratory for biosensing and bioimaging. We describe the use of plasmonics surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) gene probes for the detection of diseases using DNA hybridization to target biospecies (HIV gene, breast cancer genes etc.). For molecular imaging, we describe a hyperspectral surface-enhanced Raman imaging (HSERI) system that combines imaging capabilities with SERS detection to identify cellular components using Raman dye-labeled silver nanoparticles in cellular systems The detection of specific target DNA sequences associated with breast cancer using "molecular sentinel" nanoprobes and the use of a plasmonic nanosensor to monitor pH in single cells are presented and discussed.