Renewable Energy and Resources

Biosensors

A Biosensor is a device that measures biological or chemical reactions by generating signals proportional to the concentration of an analyte in the reaction. Biosensors are employed in applications such as disease monitoring, drug discovery, and detection of pollutants, disease-causing micro-organisms and markers that are indicators of a disease in bodily fluids (blood, urine, saliva, sweat). it consists of the following components.

Analyte: A substance of interest that needs detection. For instance, glucose is an ‘analyte’ in a biosensor designed to detect glucose.

Bioreceptor: A molecule that specifically recognises the analyte is known as a bioreceptor. Enzymes, cells, aptamers, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and antibodies are some examples of bioreceptors. The process of signal generation (in the form of light, heat, pH, charge or mass change, etc.) upon interaction of the bioreceptor with the analyte is termed bio-recognition.

Transducer: The transducer is an element that converts one form of energy into another. In a biosensor the role of the transducer is to convert the bio-recognition event into a measurable signal. This process of energy conversion is known as signalisation. Most transducers produce either optical or electrical signals that are usually proportional to the amount of analyte–bioreceptor interactions