Nano-biotechnology promotes the future development of sensors

All living organisms are using "biological molecular switches" to monitor the environment. Such "switches" are molecules that can be made of RNA or protein and can change shape. The attraction of these "molecular switches" is that they are small enough to "work" within cells and are very targeted to deal with very complex environments.

Inspired by these natural "switches," nano-biosensors came into being.

Biosensors are sensors made of immobilized biological components such as enzymes, antigens, antibodies, hormones, etc., or biological cells, organelles, tissues, and the like as sensing elements.

According to the different molecular recognition elements used, biosensors can be classified into enzyme sensors, microbial sensors, tissue sensors, organelle sensors, and immunosensors; they can be divided into electrochemical biosensors, semiconductor biosensors, and heat-sensing types depending on the signal conversion elements. Biosensors, photometric biosensors, acoustic biosensors, etc.

Among them, electrochemical biosensors are widely used in the fields of pharmaceutical industry, food testing and environmental protection due to their small size, high resolution, short response time, few samples, and minimal damage to living cells.

Today, the involvement of nanotechnology has provided new vitality for the development of electrochemical biosensors.

Low-dimensional organic materials become the new favorite

In the research of electrochemical nano-biosensors, electrochemiluminescence has become a point of interest for scientists because of its high stability and low background signal.

Electrochemically oxidized and reduced nanomaterials can react with the co-reactants at the electrode surface to generate electrochemiluminescence.

This study further highlights the use of one-dimensional nanomaterials with high specific surface area to prepare biosensors that can increase the sensitivity of the sensor. Next, scientists will also use one-dimensional nanomaterials to build nanophotonic biosensor-related devices to achieve the perfect combination of nanomaterials, photonics, and biology.

Future trends

With the development of cross-fusion of nanotechnology and biosensors, more and more new nano-biosensors have emerged, such as nano-biosensors such as quantum dots, DNA, and oligonucleoside ligands.

According to experts, the development direction of nano-biosensors in the future should be the integration of multi-function, portable, one-off rapid detection and analysis machines, which can be widely used for rapid detection of food, environment, battlefield, and human diseases.

For example, rapid and sensitive detection of pathogens or pesticide residues in foods and beverages; remote detection and control of contaminated gases or contaminating metal ions in the environment; rapid real-time detection of human blood components and pathogens; and rapid detection of biological weapons and explosives on the battlefield .

However, a new generation of nano-biosensors also faces many challenges, such as higher sensitivity, specificity, biocompatibility, integration of multiple technologies, simplified detection methods, manufacturing processes, mass production, and cost-effectiveness.

In this regard, the molecular self-assembly process is simple and controllable, it can realize rapid replication, and the cost is low. It plays an important role in promoting the development of biosensors and is beneficial to the development of high-sensitivity, low-cost, one-time nano biosensors. Biomolecule self-assembly technology is more worthy of attention. It has natural biocompatibility, excellent binding performance, or will become another new field of biosensor development.